Investing.com - Bottom fishers snapped up nicely priced gold positions on Wednesday and wiped out three consecutive losing sessions, though gains were cautious as markets still weighed Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen upbeat take on the U.S. economy.
On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for August delivery traded at 1,299.10 a troy ounce during U.S. trading, up 0.15%, up from a session low of $1,294.10 and off a high of $1,304.30.
The August contract settled down 0.73% at $1,297.10 on Tuesday.
Futures were likely to find support at $1,292.60 a troy ounce, Tuesday's low, and resistance at $1,340.90, Monday's high.
Yellen told Senators in a Tuesday hearing that interest rates could rise sooner rather than later if the labor market continues to improve, especially given her observations that small-cap, biotech and other momentum stock valuations appear "stretched" these days.
While she said the economy requires loose policy today, expectations for rates to rise if the labor market continues to improve sent the dollar climbing.
Gold and the dollar tend to trade inversely with one another.
The dollar also firmed on the news that U.S. wholesale prices rose more than expected in June, which capped gold's gains.
The U.S. producer price index rose by 0.4% in June from May, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, beating market calls for a 0.2% uptick.
Core producers prices rose 0.2%, in line with market expectations.
Elsewhere, the Federal Reserve reported that U.S. industrial output rose 0.2% in June, missing consensus forecasts for a 0.4% reading, which capped the dollar's gains.
Meanwhile, silver for September delivery was down 0.53% at $20.778 a troy ounce, while copper futures for September delivery were down 1.09% at $3.214 a pound.