(RTTNews) - After falling in the previous session, the price of gold moved up near $1,800 Tuesday morning amid a mixed U.S. dollar.
Gold for December delivery, the most actively traded contract, moved up $12.20 to $1,791.10 an ounce. Yesterday, gold surrendered nearly 2 percent as steep declines in global equity markets forced investors to sell gold to cover losses incurred elsewhere.
Standard and Poor's Tuesday downgraded its rating of Italy's government debt by one notch to AA-1 and maintained its "negative" outlook. Italy's weakening prospects for economic growth.
Holdings of SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, were unchanged at 1,251.91 tons.
Meanwhile, the U.S. dollar was trading flat versus the euro and sterling, while ticking lower against the Swiss franc and the yen.
In economic news from the euro zone, Germany's economic sentiment deteriorated for a seventh month in September, survey results from ZEW Centre for European Economic Research showed. The index of economic sentiment fell by 5.7 points to -43.3 points. Economists were expecting the indicator to drop to -45.0.
Elsewhere, the prices of silver and platinum were moving higher in morning deals.
In economic news from the U.S., the Commerce Department will release its report on housing starts and building permits at 8:30 a.m. ET. Economists estimate housing starts of 592,000 for August, while building permits are expected at 590,000.
