Investing.com - Gold prices rose to a three-month high on Tuesday, as traders looked ahead to Congressional testimony from new Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen later in the day for clues regarding the future of course of U.S. monetary policy.
On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for April delivery rose to a session high of USD1,287.40 a troy ounce, the most since November 18.
Gold prices last traded at USD1,284.60 an ounce during European morning hours, up 0.8%. Gold futures ended Monday’s session up 0.93% to settle at USD1,274.70 a troy ounce.
Prices were likely to find support at USD1,255.50 a troy ounce, the low from February 7 and resistance at USD1,293.60, the high from November 14.
Meanwhile, silver for March delivery inched up 0.15% to trade at USD20.13 a troy ounce. The March contract settled 0.88% higher on Monday to end at USD20.11 an ounce.
Ms. Yellen was to testify on monetary policy and the outlook for the economy before the House Financial Services Committee later Tuesday and the Senate Banking Committee on Thursday.
The Fed chair was expected to reiterate that the bank will continue to unwind its stimulus program as long as the economic recovery continues as expected, and to repeat that the bank will keep interest rates at current record lows for some time to come.
The testimony is coming amid fresh concerns over the outlook for the recovery, following the weakest two-month stretch of U.S. job creation in three years in December and January.
The Fed tapered its monthly asset purchase program by another USD10 billion to USD65 billion a month at its last policy meeting.
Elsewhere on the Comex, copper futures for March delivery shed 0.4% to trade at USD3.212 a pound.
Investors looked ahead to key economic data out of China later in the week to gauge the strength of the world’s second largest economy. On Thursday, China will release its monthly trade data, which will be followed by inflation numbers Friday.
The Asian nation is the world’s largest copper consumer, accounting for almost 40% of world consumption last year.