Gold rose on bargain hunting on Wednesday and could challenge this week's peak on hopes that healthy GDP data from China, the world's second-largest bullion consumer, would further boost sentiment in commodities. Gold, which has gained on safe-haven buying related to problems with debt-ridden Greece, will also watch a trail of US economic data due later in the day for clues on the direction of currencies.
Spot gold was at $1,154.00 an ounce, up $3.85 an ounce from New York's notional close on Tuesday, when it hit an intraday low of $1,144.75 an ounce. Gold had rallied to $1,168.70 on Monday, its strongest since December 4.