Gold holds near six-week high ahead of Fed chair hearing

Gold prices on Tuesday held near a six-week high hit in the previous session, supported by a weaker dollar ahead of a congressional hearing on US Federal Reserve chair nominee Jerome Powell and a possible Senate vote on US tax reforms.

FUNDAMENTALS

* Spot gold was up 0.1 percent at $1,295.31 an ounce at 0120 GMT. On Monday, the metal touched a high of $1,299.13 an ounce, its highest since Oct. 16

* US gold futures for December delivery were nearly unchanged at $1,294.80.

* The dollar on Tuesday remained within sight of a two-month low versus the yen, with the near-term focus on a possible Senate vote on a U.S. tax plan later in the week.

* Powell, the nominee to chair the Federal Reserve, defended the Fed`s use of broad crisis-fighting powers in remarks prepared for his Tuesday Senate confirmation hearing, positioning himself as an extension of the central bank policies of current Chair Janet Yellen and her predecessor Ben Bernanke.

* A US Senate Republican tax bill strongly backed by President Donald Trump faced potential opposition from two Republican lawmakers who could prevent the sweeping legislation from reaching the Senate floor. Republicans are hurrying to bring the U.S. Senate version of their tax bill to a Senate vote, possibly as soon as Thursday.

* Sales of new US single-family homes unexpectedly rose in October to hit a 10-year high amid robust demand across the country, offering a boost to the housing market.

* Dallas Fed President Robert Kaplan on Monday made his clearest case yet for an interest-rate hike next month and more to come in 2018, saying that waiting too long to tighten policy could increase the risk of recession.

* Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari, who dissented both times the Fed raised interest rates so far this year, on Monday signaled he may do so again in December when the Fed is widely expected to deliver a third rate hike.

* Hedge funds and money managers cut their net long positions in COMEX gold and silver contracts in the week to Nov. 21, U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) data showed on Monday. Speculators cut their net long position in gold by 3,944 contracts to 177,066 contracts in the week.