Gold regained strength on Tuesday, reversing the previous session's losses, and a rise in ETF holdings for the first time in a week suggested some investors still had faith in the precious metal despite the improving tone of US economic data.
Strong oil prices and a deadly unrest in Egypt could underpin sentiment, but trading slowed down in Asia ahead of the Lunar New Year celebration later this week. Bullion posted its first monthly decline in six months in January. Spot gold added $6.80 to $1,338.70 an ounce by 0710 GMT after falling to as low as 1,322.90 on Monday. Gold struck a record around $1,430 in December on worries the euro debt crisis would spread and uncertainty in the US economy.
In the physical market, premiums for gold bars soared in Tokyo to their highest in more than two years at $2 an ounce as steady shipments to other bullion trading centres in Asia led to a tight supply. The world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, SPDR Gold Trust , said its holdings edged up to 1,227.153 tonnes by January 31 from 1,224.118 tonnes on January 28 - the first rise since January 21.