Investing.com - Gold prices held onto overnight gains early in Asia Tuesday on price levels seen as favorable against demand. On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for February delivery traded at USD1,251.05 a troy ounce, up 0.12%, early in Asia. Overnight, gold prices hit a session low of USD1,227.45 a troy ounce and high of USD1,253.25 a troy ounce. Weekend talks among the U.S., Russia, China, Britain, Germany, France and Iran ended in agreement that halted advancements in Iran's nuclear program in exchange for easing economic sanctions against Tehran. Under the terms of the agreement, Iran will stop enriching uranium beyond 5% and neutralize its stockpile of uranium enriched beyond that point. Tehran will also grant more access to its facilities to nuclear inspectors in exchange for no new sanctions for six months. Iran will also receive sanctions relief worth approximately USD7 billion in trade on oil, auto and airplane parts, gold and precious metals for six months. In a report, the National Association of Realtors said its pending home sales index declined by a seasonally adjusted 0.6% in October, disappointing market expectations for a 1.3% gain. Year-on-year, pending home sales fell at annualized rate of 2.2% last month, outpacing expectations for a 1% decline after rising 2% in September. Soft U.S. economic indicators often boost gold prices by cementing expectations that the Federal Reserve will hold off on dismantling monetary stimulus programs such as monthly asset purchases until early 2014 as opposed to December as once anticipated.

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