The price of gold was holding on to its recent gains Tuesday morning, with the US dollar trading weak versus a basket of major currencies.
Gold for February delivery, the most actively traded contract, gained $12.30 to $1,246.50 an ounce. Yesterday, gold settled marginally higher on value buying despite taper talk from a trio of Federal Reserve officials. The Fed may scale back their $85 billion dollar per month asset purchase plan next week. "Based on labor market data alone, the probability of a reduction in the pace of asset purchases has increased," St. Louis Fed Pres James Bullard told one group.
Holdings of SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, were unchanged at 835.71 tons.
This morning, the U.S. dollar was lingering around its 6-week low versus the euro and around a two-year low against sterling and the Swiss franc. The buck was hovering around its seven-month high versus the yen.
In economic news, U.K.'s industrial as well as manufacturing output growth slowed in October as expected by economists, the Office for National Statistics showed. Both industrial and manufacturing output grew 0.4 percent each. The rates matched economists' expectations. Overall industrial production had increased 0.9 percent in September and manufacturing by 1.2 percent.
Meanwhile, the U.K. visible trade gap narrowed to GBP 9.7 billion in October from GBP 10.1 billion in September, the Office for National Statistics revealed. The visible trade deficit with EU countries widened to GBP 6.5 billion from GBP 6.2 billion in September. Meanwhile, the shortfall with non-EU nations narrowed to GBP 3.3 billion from GBP 3.9 billion.
Elsewhere, the prices of silver and platinum were moving higher in morning deals.
From the U.S, the Commerce Department will release its wholesale inventories report for October at 10 am ET. Economists expect wholesale inventories to have risen by 0.4 percent month-over-month, the same pace as in the previous month.
