Investing.com - Gold prices posted a mild rebound in Asia on Thursday with investors seeing some bargains on the physical side after a steady drop over the past week.
On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold for August delivery rose 0.14% to $1,093.00 a troy ounce.
Silver for September delivery gained 0.09% to $14.743 a troy ounce.
Copper for September delivery eased 0.04% to $2.428 a pound.
Overnight, gold futures plunged further on Wednesday to fresh five-year lows amid a broadly higher dollar, as investors continued to adopt a bearish sentiment to the precious metal.
The National Association of Realtors said in a monthly report on Wednesday that existing home sales in June increased 3.2% on a month-to-month basis to an annual rate of 5.49 million units, its highest level since February, 2007. Analysts expected existing home sales to rise to 5.40 million on the month.
Following last month's surge, existing home sales are now up nearly 10% from last year at this time.
The strong data helped boost the dollar, which posted positive gains on Wednesday for the fifth time in six sessions. The U.S. Dollar Index, which measures the strength of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, rose more than 0.4% to an intraday high of 97.94. On Monday, the dollar index surged to a three-month high at 98.31.
Dollar-denominated commodities such as gold become more expensive for foreign purchasers when the dollar appreciates.
Gold has been the victim of a perfect storm of sorts during its summer crash.
A volatile period in the global economy has eased following recent developments in the Greek Debt and Iranian Nuclear negotiations, as well as renewed diplomatic relations between the U.S. and Cuba.
Gold is viewed as a safe haven for investors in periods of severe economic instability. Strong indications from the Federal Reserve of an imminent interest rate hike have also weighed on gold. The precious metal is not attached to interest rates and struggles to compete against high-yield bearing assets in higher rate environments.