Gold futures made modest gains today as declines in monthly U.S. home sales and prices drove some safe-haven demand for the metal.
Gold for April delivery increased less than 0.1% to finish at US$1,311.40 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Purchases of new homes in the U.S. fell in February to the lowest level in five months, a sign the industry may take time to pick up after inclement weather damped demand earlier in the year.
Residential real-estate prices climbed at a slower pace in the year through January than a month earlier. The S&P/Case-Shiller index of property values in 20 cities increased 13.2 percent from January 2013, the smallest gain since August, after rising 13.4 percent in the 12 months through December.
In other metals, May silver stretches losses to a seventh session, giving up 0.4 percent to finish at $19.98 an ounce.
High-grade copper for May delivery rose 2 percent to $3.01 a pound after spending the last two trading sessions stuck at $2.95.
June palladium slid 0.6 percent to $789.40 an ounce after prices closed a day earlier at their highest level since 2011, on the back of concerns over supplies from Russia.
April platinum fell 0.7 percent to $1,420.90 an ounce.
In energy, oil futures closed lower today as traders speculated that weekly data will show a rise in U.S. crude supplies.
May oil dropped 0.4% to close at US$99.19 on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
The American Petroleum Institute expects domestic commercial crude supplies to rise by 6.3 million barrels, while the Energy Information Administration will releases its data early tomorrow.
Analysts polled by Platts expect the reports to show a climb of 2.6 million barrels in crude inventories.
