Investing.com - Gold futures inched higher on Tuesday to trade near the previous session’s three-week high, as investors awaited U.S. data on retail sales later in the day, a data point that will be scrutinized for its potential impact on the Federal Reserve's monetary policy stance. On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for December delivery traded at USD1,338.50 a troy ounce during European morning hours, up 0.3%. Gold prices held in a tight range between USD1,329.90 a troy ounce, the daily low and a session high of USD1,340.70 a troy ounce. Gold futures were likely to find support at USD1,282.80 a troy ounce, the low from August 8 short-term resistance at USD1,347.85, the high from July 23. The December contract settled up 1.7% at USD1,334.20 a troy ounce on Monday, after hitting a session high of USD1,342.90 a troy ounce, the strongest level since July 24. Monday’s gains came amid indications of increased investor demand for the precious metal and as a round of technical buying kicked in after prices broke above a key resistance level. Market players were looking ahead to Tuesday’s retail sales report, as well as data on inflation, industrial production, housing starts and consumer confidence later in the week. Gold traders have closely been looking out for U.S. data reports recently to gauge if they will strengthen or weaken the case for the Fed to reduce its bond purchases. Any improvement in the U.S. economy was likely to reinforce the view that the central bank will begin to taper its bond purchase program in the coming months. The precious metal is on track to post a loss of approximately 21% on the year amid concerns the Fed will start to unwind its stimulus program by the year's end. Moves in the gold price this year have largely tracked shifting expectations as to whether the U.S. central bank would end its quantitative easing program sooner-than-expected. An exit from the stimulus would deal a heavy blow to gold, which has thrived on demand from investors who buy gold to hedge against the inflationary risks of loose monetary policies. Elsewhere on the Comex, silver for September delivery rose 0.8% to trade at USD21.51 a troy ounce, the strongest level since June 19. Meanwhile, copper for September delivery added 0.2% to trade at USD3.309 a pound. On Monday, prices rose to a ten-week high of USD3.328 a pound. Appetite for the red metal remained supported amid receding concerns over a slowdown in China’s economy. China is the world’s largest copper consumer, accounting for almost 40% of world consumption last year.

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