Gold rises on modest bargain hunting

             Gold futures rose in the early part of Tuesday’s Asian session as traders did some bargain hunting with the yellow metal after it was pushed lower Monday amid looming political uncertainty in the U.S. and Europe. 

On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for December delivery rose 0.20% to USD1,329.70 per troy ounce in Asian trading Tuesday. The December contract settled lower by 0.91% at USD1,327.00 per ounce on Monday. 

Gold futures were likely to find support at USD1,306.20 a troy ounce, Tuesday's low, and resistance at USD1,375.10, the high from Sept. 19. 

Despite gold’s appeal as a safe-haven investment, investors have in recent days dumped bullion even as the U.S. government heads towards a shutdown that could threaten the health of global financial markets. On Monday, President Barack Obama said a shutdown is preventable and said House Republicans are purposefully manufacturing the shutdown for political gain. 

Over the weekend, the House approved legislation that stripped Obamacare, the President’s landmark health care reform package, of key provisions. However, the Democrat-controlled Senate has vowed to not accept any budget package that waters down Obamacare. 

Gold was also under pressure following some U.S. data points. In U.S. economic news out Monday, the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas reported earlier that its general business activity index increased to 12.8 in September from 5.0 in August, beating market calls for the index to remain unchanged.

Separately, industry data revealed that Chicago purchasing managers' index hit 55.7 in September from 53.0 in August, beating analysts' calls for a 54.0 reading. Those data points were strong enough to stoke speculation that the Fed could taper its monetary easing program before the end of this year. 

Elsewhere, Comex silver for December delivery fell 0.11% to USD21.685 per ounce while copper for December delivery rose 0.08% to USD3.319 per ounce. - investing.com