LONDON—The spot price of gold reached its highest level in almost eight weeks as investors continued to seek safe-haven assets in the wake of Tuesday's dismal U.S. home sales.
Existing home sales plunged to their lowest level in 15 years in July, prompting renewed concerns over the state of the U.S. economic recovery.
"As long as there is uncertainty on the markets and the trust of investors in the economic recovery is fading, demand for gold should remain high," analysts at Commerzbank said in their daily report.
Spot gold recently was up $4.50, or 0.4% at $1,234.90 a troy ounce. It hit a high of $1,239 an ounce, a level not seen since July 1.
Commerzbank said slight outflows from the world's largest gold ETF, the SPDR Gold Trust, hadn't had any effect on gold prices. For the first time since the beginning of the month, SPDR reported a decline of its holdings by 1.5 metric tons.
Market participants will now be eyeing U.S. new home sales figures, due at 10 a.m. EDT, analysts said.
Other precious metals were also firmer. Spot silver was 1.1% higher at $18.58 an ounce, spot platinum was up 0.5% at $1,518 an ounce and spot palladium was 0.6% higher at $486 an ounce.
