Gold rose nearly 1%, after a top European Central Bank official said the euro zone crisis was not over; however prices again came under pressure as redemptions in gold-backed exchange-traded funds continued.
Gold holdings of SPDR gold trust, the largest ETF backed by the precious metal, declined to 1,236.31 tons, as on March 12. Silver holdings of ishares silver trust, the largest ETF backed by the metal, increased to 10,703.6 tons, as on March 12.
Bundesbank's chief Jens Weidmann, also a member of the ECB Governing Council, said the German central bank had set aside billions more Euros against what it deemed risky ECB moves.
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The dollar index closed a seesaw session with a marginal loss; while the British pound tumbled after dismal UK industrial production figures underlined fears of a triple-dip recession.
The dollar index which tracks greenback against major currencies moved to 82.585 on late Tuesday, off from 82.601 in late North American trading on Monday.
Copper & other metals closed in positive, as signs of strength in Chinese auto sales and gains in the US labor market brightened demand prospects for industrial metals. Copper futures for May delivery closed up by 1.1% at $3.5545 on the COMEX division of the NYMEX.
China's copper output dropped for a second straight month in February from record highs touched in December. Refined copper output in February dropped 1.8% to 483,000 tons, the lowest since mid-2012, as per data from the National Bureau of Statistics.
Aluminum production dropped 2.8% to 1.73mn tons in February, but was still up 11% from February 2012.
Brent crude oil prices declined for the third straight session in choppy trading session, while US oil posted a fourth consecutive gain, tightening the spread between the two contracts to the narrowest since January. Expected EIA inventories: Crude oil +2.4mn barrels, gasoline -1.2mn barrels & distillate - 1.9mn barrels.
Crude oil stocks fell 1.379mn barrels, gasoline stocks fell 3.119mn barrels, while stocks of distillate fell 2.192mn barrels, as per API report.
Natural gas futures eased slightly on profitbooking, as traders questioned whether prices of the fuel used for heating have reached a ceiling as spring weather approaches.
