Gold edged higher on Wednesday on safe-haven bids due to uncertainties in Europe ahead of a key election in Greece, but the metal's repeated failures to break above major chart resistance could trigger technical selling. Bullion initially rose toward $1,625 an ounce after weak US retail sales and wholesale prices data raised the prospect of additional monetary easing from the Federal Reserve.
Concerns about Spanish and Italian debt and jitters over Sunday's Greek election also kept gold prices supported. The metal, which has largely moved in sync with risky assets so far this year, pared early gains even though the euro remained higher. Gold has repeatedly failed to break above $1,640 for over a month despite several recent rallies.
"Right now there seems to be a disconnect with gold and the euro, and my fear is that if we don't get above $1,640, we can have from a $50 to $70 selloff in the coming days," said Anthony Neglia, president of Tower Trading and a COMEX gold options floor trader.
Spot gold was up 0.3 percent at $1,614.30 an ounce by 12:37 pm EDT (1637 GMT), having earlier hit a high of $1,624.36. It is on track for its fourth consecutive daily rise. US COMEX gold futures for August delivery rose $4.80 to $1,614.30 in moderate volume. Among other precious metals, silver slipped 0.3 percent to $28.84 an ounce. Spot platinum gained 0.9 percent to $1,459.49 an ounce, while palladium eased 0.4 percent to $618.22 an ounce.
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