The price of gold was moving higher Wednesday morning, supported by physical demand as the yellow metal dived to a fresh two-year low last week.
Gold for June delivery, the most actively traded contract, edged up $7.10 to $1,384.70 an ounce. Yesterday, gold settled lower with the US dollar strengthening ahead of the outcome of the Federal Open Market Committee policy meet, later this week, on the central bank's future policy on its quantitative easing program.
Holdings of SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, moved down to 1,023.08 tons from 1,031.50 tons..
Meanwhile, the U.S. dollar was leveling off from its 6-week high versus the euro, while extending gains against sterling. The buck was steady near its 4-year high versus the yen, while trading around its 10-month high against the Swiss franc.
In economic news, the euro area current account surplus surged to EUR 25.9 billion in March largely due to an increase in trade surplus, the European Central Bank reported. The current account surplus amounted to EUR 14.6 billion in February. The trade in goods totaled EUR 21.8 billion, up sharply from EUR 11.5 billion a month ago. However, the surplus on trade in services fell to EUR 7.6 billion from EUR 8.4 billion.
Meanwhile, retail sales in the UK declined unexpectedly in April, the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics showed. Retail sales volume, including auto fuel, fell 1.3 percent month-on-month in April against forecast for a 0.1 percent increase. Sales, excluding fuel, dropped 1.4 percent compared with an expected 0.1 percent growth.
Elsewhere, the call for additional stimulus by Bank of England chief Mervyn King was overturned by other policymakers for the fourth consecutive month, minutes showed. As seen in previous months, King, Paul Fisher and David Miles sought an increase in quantitative easing by GBP 25 billion to GBP 400 billion.
The prices of silver and platinum were moving higher morning deals.
From the U.S., the National Association of Realtors will release its existing home sales report for April at 10 a.m. ET. Economists expect existing home sales to come in at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5 million units compared to 4.920 million units in the previous month.
