Credit: Investing.com -
Investing.com - Gold rallied to a five-month high on Tuesday, as investors waited to see if the European Central Bank would launch a government bond-buying program when it meets later in the week.
On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for February delivery hit a session high of $1,294.30 a troy ounce, the most since August 28, before trading at $1,292.90 during European morning hours, up $16.00, 1.25%.
A day earlier, gold tacked on $12.10, or 0.96%, to settle at $1,276.90.
Futures were likely to find support at $1,255.20, the low from January 16, and resistance at $1,297.60, the high from August 28.
Also on the Comex, silver futures for March delivery jumped 29.0 cents, or 1.63%, to trade at $18.04 a troy ounce, the highest level since September 19.
The euro remained under pressure amid mounting expectations that the ECB will embark on an outright quantitative easing program on Thursday, in a bid to stave off the threat of deflation in the euro area.
Uncertainty over the outcome of Greek elections, due to be held on Sunday, with anti-bailout party Syriza leading in the polls further boosted demand for safe haven assets.
Elsewhere in metals trading, copper for March delivery tumbled 4.6 cents, or 1.76%, to trade at $2.571 a pound, after data showed that China's economy grew at the slowest pace in 24 years last year.
Official data released earlier showed that China's economy grew 7.4% in 2014 from a year earlier, below the government's official target of 7.5% and the slowest pace since 1990. It expanded 7.7% in 2013.
In the fourth quarter, China's economy expanded at an annual rate of 7.3%, beating expectations for 7.2% and holding steady from the prior quarter.
The Asian nation is the world's largest copper consumer, accounting for almost 40% of world consumption.
Meanwhile, the International Monetary Fund cut its global growth forecast for 2015 to 3.5% from a previous estimate of 3.8%, citing slowing economies in China, Russia, the euro zone and Japan.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback's strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, rose 0.25% to 93.08.
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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
