Gold rose to a four-month high on Tuesday, extending its winning streak to a fourth consecutive session, after disappointing US consumer confidence and a lacklustre gain in home prices fuelled concerns over the pace of US economic recovery. The S&P/Case-Shiller 20-city home price index showed US home price gains slowed in December, underscoring a loss of momentum in the housing recovery, while a separate report showed consumer confidence drifted lower this month.
Spot gold hit its highest since October 31 at $1,343.20 an ounce after the US data. It was trading up 0.4 percent at $1,341.98 an ounce by 1:53 pm EST (1853 GMT). US COMEX gold futures for April delivery were up $4.50 to $1,342.50 an ounce, with volume on track to finish below its 30-day average, preliminary Reuters data showed. Among other precious metals, silver fell 0.1 percent to $21.94 an ounce. Platinum rose 0.4 percent to $1,436.75 an ounce and palladium was down 0.8 percent to $732 an ounce.