• Spot gold XAU= was up 0.03 percent at $1,294.56 an ounce by 2:20 p.m. EST (1920 GMT), little changed from $1,294.44 late on Monday. Earlier that day, it hit a peak of $1,299.13, its highest since mid-October.
U.S. gold futures GCv1 for December delivery settled up 50 cents, or 0.04 percent, at $1,294.90 per ounce.
• Gold inched higher on Tuesday but was still below the previous day's six-week high, mirroring an advance in the U.S. dollar following a confirmation hearing for U.S. Federal Reserve chair nominee, Jerome Powell.
• The U.S. Federal Reserve is likely to raise interest rates again next month, Powell told the Senate Banking Committee.
• He said the Fed should "respond decisively" to any new economic crisis, positioning himself as an heir to the policies of current chair Janet Yellen and her predecessor Ben Bernanke.
• North Korea fired what appeared to be an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) that landed close to Japan, officials said, Pyongyang’s first test launch since mid-September with some scientists cautioning that Washington, D.C., could now technically be within reach.
"We've seen active buying on dips, yet certainly the pressure of the idea of a pending rate hike - a good portion of that is more than factored into the market," said David Meger, director of metals trading at High Ridge Futures in Chicago.
• As traders await a possible vote on the U.S. tax code overhaul this week, new drama emerged in the Senate when a pair of Republican lawmakers demanded changes to the party's tax bill in exchange for help advancing the proposal.
• The upcoming tax vote and tensions over North Korea might create some activity in the gold market, Saxo Bank's head of commodity strategy Ole Hansen said.
"Overall it really depends on whether these or other events manage to weaken the dollar further," he said. "Without that gold remains stuck, with the underlying bid from diversification and tail-end risk protection strong enough to keep the downside risk limited."
• Silver XAG= was down 1.1 percent at $16.84 per ounce, while platinum XPT= was down 0.1 percent at $946.50 and palladium XPD= was 1.8 percent higher at $1,024.50.
Reference: Reuters
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