Spot gold struggled to breach $1,600 an ounce on Tuesday, as investors remained nervous over the progress of the eurozone's efforts to rein in its debt crisis, while resilient physical buying interest supported prices. Spot gold edged up 0.4 percent to $1,599.34 an ounce by 0702 GMT, after piercing above $1,600 briefly earlier in the day. US gold inched up 0.3 percent to $1,601.80.
Spot palladium led the precious metals complex with a 0.8 percent rise, to $609. Spot platinum edged up 0.4 percent to $1,411.93. The Relative Strength Index just climbed above 30, after wallowing below the that mark in the oversold territory for a week.