Futures & Commodities

Gold ends about 1% higher as dollar slumps

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Gold settled about 1 percent higher on Tuesday as the dollar and equity markets fell on signs the European Central Bank may not recur to more stimulus, while renewed tensions in Ukraine kept risk appetite subdued.

The metal gained further support after Iraq's central bank said it might buy more gold in the next few months, having bought 60 tonnes over the past two.

for June delivery settled 0.8 percent higher at $1,309.10 an ounce.

Earlier, spot gold touched a session high of $1,314.43 an ounce, its highest level in two weeks. It was up 1.1 percent at $1,310 an ounce.

Chart: Precious Metals


The technical picture seems to have improved over the past few sessions after prices crossed the $1,300 mark, but a failure to break resistance at $1,322 could signal a restart of downward pressure, analysts said.

The metal recovered 2.7 percent from a seven-week low of $1,277.29 early last week, when investors cut bullish bets on expectations that strong economic data out of the United States could prompt a quicker tightening of U.S. monetary policy.

Read More Gold buoyed by Ukraine fears; bull market ahead?

The dollar fell 0.6 percent against a basket of currencies, mostly due to gains in the Japanese yen following the Bank of Japan's decision to hold off from additional easing and a stronger euro after the European Central Bank (ECB) again played down the need for any immediate policy action.

Ukraine has launched what it described as an ``anti-terrorist'' operation in the eastern city of Kharkiv and said about 70 separatists had been arrested for seizing the regional administration building. Gold is usually seen as an insurance against risk in times of economic uncertainty or global political troubles.

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