Gold hovers near five-month low

Gold futures tilted higher in American trade while still hovering near December 26 lows, as the dollar index hit December 19 highs, following earlier data from the US, the world's largest economy. 

As of 02:05 GMT, gold futures due on June 15 inched up 0.06% to $1,291.10 an ounce from the opening of $1,290.30, while the dollar index added 0.17% to 93.39 from the opening of 93.22. 

Earlier US data showed housing starts fell 1.8% in April to an annualized 1.352 million units, compared to a 4.1% rise in March to 1.377 million, while analysts expected a 2.1% dip to 1.350 million. 

Building permits fell 3.7% to 1.287 million, compared to a 3.6% rise to 1.336 million in March, while analysts expected a 0.7% dip to 1.310 million. 

Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta President Raphael Bostic spoke earlier about the economic outlook at the Augusta Cotton Exchange, where he pointed to Fed's uncertainty on how will US companies respond to tax cuts, with most polls so far indicating corporations aren't changing their spending plans in 2018. 

Bostic said consumer spending is strong but still not at its peak, expressing otherwise his support for three rate hikes this year, while pointing to the 3.9% unemployment rate as extremely low. 

US industrial production rose 0.7% in April, same as March and beating expectations of a slowdown in growth to 0.6%. 

The Capacity Utilization Rate rose to 78% in April from 77.6% in March, missing forecasts of 78.4%. 

Recently, the World Gold Council reported a 7% drop in global demand in the first quarter of 2018 to 973.5 tonnes, the lowest since the first quarter of 2008, as investments fell 27% on the precious metal to 287 tonnes from 383 tonnes in the first quarter of 2017. 

Central banks' gold demand rose 42% to 116.5 tonnes, especially from Russia, while jewelry demand steadied at 487.7 tonnes, as mine supplies grew 1% y/y to 770 thousand tonnes. 

Gold holdings at SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed investment fund, steadied at 856.17 tonnes on Tuesday with no change, the lowest since April 5, after rising 3%, or 23.63 tonnes in 2017, while gold prices rose 13% last year.