Gold rises in Asia following U.S. gains

Investing.com- Gold futures were spotted fractionally higher in the early part of Friday’s Asian session after the yellow metal rose for a fourth consecutive day during Thursday’s U.S. session. The four-day winning streak is the longest for gold in almost two months.

On Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for February delivery rose 0.11% to USD1,665.45 per troy ounce. That is exactly where gold closed in Thursday’s U.S. session. Gold futures were likely to test support USD1,636.45 a troy ounce, the low from Dec. 21, and resistance at USD1,668.45, Wednesday's high.

Though gold futures have gained no more than 1% in a single session over the past several days, the gains are heartening for gold bulls and could be a sign that gold’s safe haven status is being renewed as investors fret over the U.S. fiscal cliff.

During Thursday’s U.S. session, equities spent much of the day in the red after Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat, said that appears clear the U.S. will go over the dreaded fiscal cliff. Following those comments, investors fled riskier assets in favor of safe havens, including gold.

Later in the day, various media outlets reported that Congress will reconvene on Sunday December 30 in what appears to be a last ditch effort to avoid the fiscal cliff. Those headlines helped pare losses for U.S. equities, but gold did not move much on that news as traders appear resigned to the notion that gold remain locked in a tight trading range until there is some resolution to the fiscal cliff.

U.S. politicians are clearly cutting things close by waiting until Sunday to get down to business. The deadline to avert the cliff is January 1, 2013 and if a compromise is not reached over the weekend, nearly $110 billion in spending cuts could take effect in January alone.

Elsewhere, Comex silver for March delivery added 0.25% to USD30.315 per ounce while copper for March delivery added 0.41% to USD3.618 per ounce.