Investing.com - Gold prices rose to a five-week high on Tuesday, as investors focused on seasonal physical demand from India ahead of the fall wedding season and the Hindu festival of Diwali.
On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for December delivery hit a daily peak of $1,250.70 a troy ounce, the most since September 10.
Prices last traded at $1,249.20 during European morning hours, up $4.50, or 0.36%.
A day earlier, gold prices tacked on $5.70, or 0.46%, to settle at $1,244.70.
Futures were likely to find support at $1,222.00, the low from October 15, and resistance at $1,257.60, the high from September 10.
Renewed physical demand related to Diwali, India's major bullion-buying event later this week, boosted prices.
India’s wedding season, a peak-consumption period for gold jewelry, runs from November to December.
The country is the world's second largest gold consumer, trailing only China.
Meanwhile, market players looked ahead to the release of key U.S. data later in the session for further indications on the strength of the economy and the future path of monetary policy.
The U.S. is slated to produce a report on existing home sales for September later Tuesday.
Gold prices remained supported amid speculation weaker than expected global economic growth and its effect on the U.S. economy may lead the Federal Reserve to push back interest-rate increases.
A delay in raising interest rates would be seen as bullish for gold, as it decreases the relative cost of holding on to the metal, which doesn't offer investors any similar guaranteed payout.
Also on the Comex, silver futures for December delivery picked up 13.9 cents, or 0.8%, to trade at $17.49 a troy ounce.
Elsewhere in metals trading, copper for December delivery lost 0.7 cents, or 0.23%, to trade at $2.981 a pound.
Official data released earlier showed that China’s economy expanded at an annual rate of 7.3% in the third quarter, down from growth of 7.5% in the preceding quarter.
While the figure exceeded market expectations of 7.2%, it was also the slowest expansion since the first quarter of 2009.
A separate report showed that industrial production rose by an annualized rate of 8.0% in September, compared to forecasts for a 7.5% increase, after a 6.9% gain in the previous month.
Fixed asset investment and retail sales figures were weaker than expected, indicating that the recovery remains fragile and may require further monetary stimulus.
The Asian nation is the world’s largest copper consumer, accounting for almost 40% of world consumption.