Gold rose for a third consecutive session on Tuesday as physical bullion buying and the accumulation of bullish bets linked to uncertainty over the eurozone debt crisis helped the metal recover from early losses. Spot gold rose 0.6 percent to $1,605.10 an ounce by 2:32 pm EDT (1832 GMT), its biggest one-day gain since June 1.
US gold futures for August delivery settled up $17 an ounce at $1,613.80, with trading volume about 40 percent below its 30-day average, preliminary Reuters data showed. Among other precious metals, silver was up 1 percent at $28.79 an ounce. Spot platinum climbed 0.7 percent to $1,445.74 an ounce, while spot palladium gained 0.7 percent to $621.25 an ounce.