Investing.com - Gold futures eased off the prior session's seven-week high on Tuesday, but losses remained limited amid growing expectations that the Federal Reserve will hold off on hiking interest rates until 2016.
Gold for December delivery on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange shed $7.20, or 0.62%, to trade at $1,157.30 a troy ounce during European morning hours.
On Monday, gold rallied to $1,168.60, the most since August 24, before ending at $1,164.50, up $8.60, or 0.74%.
Prices of the precious metal have been boosted in recent sessions by diminished expectations that the Federal Reserve will hike interest rates before the years end.
A delay in raising interest rates would be seen as bullish for gold, as it decreases the relative cost of holding on to the metal, which doesn't offer investors any similar guaranteed payout.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, fell to a three-week low of 94.65.
Investors were looking ahead to U.S. economic reports on retail sales and inflation later in the week for further clues as to the future path of interest rates.
The timing of a Fed rate hike has been a constant source of debate in the markets in recent months.
Elsewhere in metals trading, copper for December delivery on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange slumped 1.3 cents, or 0.54%, to hit $2.402 a pound during morning hours in London.
Data released earlier showed that China's trade surplus widened to $60.3 billion last month from $60.2 billion in August, compared to estimates for a surplus of $46.8 billion.
Chinese exports slumped 3.7% from a year earlier, better than forecasts for a decline of 6.3%, while imports plunged 20.4%, far worse than expectations for a drop of 15.0%.
A slowdown in domestic demand indicated a recovery in the broader economy remains fragile and may need further government stimulus.
China’s copper arrivals in September rose nearly 24% from a month earlier to 460,000 metric tons, indicating that demand for the red metal remains strong despite recent market turmoil.
The Asian nation is the world’s largest copper consumer, accounting for almost 40% of world consumption last year.