Gold futures hold above $1,200

After steady upward movement in Asian trading, gold futures reversed most of the gains in the U.S. trading session on Wednesday afternoon before settling slightly higher, while the investors weighted the second part of Janet Yellen testimony.

On the Comex division of New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for April delivery jumped $7.3 or 0.61% to $1,204.60 in late afternoon trading after gold prices hit an  intraday high of $1,211.70 during the European morning hours.

Gold futures soared in the Asian session the as investors in china returned to markets after a week-long break for the Lunar New Year. China recently passed over India to be the largest buyer for the precious metal in the world.

Moreover, gold advanced also in Asia trading after the dollar weakened slightly on Wednesday and investors scurried to it, The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, dipped 0.25 or 0.26% to 94.23.