Investing.com - Gold prices edged modestly higher in subdued trade on Tuesday, as investors remained on the sidelines amid a lack of fresh trading cues.
On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold for August delivery traded in a narrow range between $1,250.40 and $1,256.20 a troy ounce. Prices last traded at $1,256.00 during European morning hours, up 0.18%, or $2.30.
Gold eased up 0.11%, or $1.40, on Monday to settle at $1,253.90. Prices hit an 18-week low of $1,240.20 on June 3.
Prices were likely to find support at $1,241.20 an ounce, the low from June 5 and resistance at $1,260.60, the high from May 30.
Traders continued to digest the implications of last week's monetary easing move by the European Central Bank and U.S. jobs data which was largely in line with expectations.
The ECB cut the main refinancing rate in the euro area to a record low 0.15% last week and imposed negative deposit rates on commercial lenders, in a bid to stimulate lending to businesses. ECB President Mario Draghi also kept the option of quantitative easing on the table.
Meanwhile, the Department of Labor said last week that the U.S. economy added 217,000 jobs in May, just under expectations for jobs growth of 218,000, while the unemployment rate remained unchanged at a five-and-a-half year low of 6.3%.
The precious metal has been under heavy selling pressure recently as investors bet on strong economic growth in the U.S. during the second quarter, as the economy shakes off the effects of a weather-related slowdown over the winter.
Also on the Comex, silver for July delivery inched up 0.19%, or 3.7 cents, to trade at $19.10 a troy ounce.
Elsewhere in metals trading, copper for July delivery dipped 0.25%, or 0.8 cents, to trade at $3.036 a pound.
Official data released earlier on Tuesday showed that the annual rate of consumer price inflation in China ticked up to a four-month high of 2.5% in May while producer price inflation slowed.