What Dents Gold's Continuing Rise?
Spot gold grew on Tuesday, albeit marginally, in what could be seen as a festive carry over from Monday's positive improvements in the eurozone and China's easing of the reserve requirements ratio for its banks.
Spot gold jumped 0.1 per cent to $1,735.49 an ounce by 0319 GMT, while the U.S. gold gained 0.7 per cent to $1,737.20, data compiled by Reuters News showed.
The dollar, which weakened after the finance leaders in the eurozone agreed on a second bailout deal for financially stricken Greece, had shed 0.5 per cent against other currencies. A softer dollar is most joyous news for holders of other currencies as it allows them to purchase commodities cheaply.
Gold has remained in the $1,700 and $1,750 range over two weeks now, suspended as it is over talks on Greece's rescue package.
"Gold may remain in a consolidation phase in the near term, as it is lacking a catalyst," analyst Hou Xinqiang said in Reuters News.
"The supportive factors - eurozone debt crisis and expectation on loosening monetary policies around the world - have been around for a while and gold needs something new to break the range."