After defending very low interest rates and triggering a rally in bullion prices earlier in the week, Ben Bernanke cautioned it is too soon to declare victory in the U.S. recovery and said the Fed would take no options off the table on further
action to stimulate growth.
Expectations of further monetary easing buoyed sentiment in gold, which benefits from a higher inflation outlook should more quantitative easing be launched.
"Bernanke was highlighting his uncertainty about the sustainability of the recent uptick in the U.S. data," said Jeremy Friesen, commodity strategist at Societe Generale in Hong Kong.
"It is negative for the dollar and positive for expectations on stimulus, both of which should work in the advantage of gold."
Americans were more worried about inflation in March than at any time in the last 10 months and consumer confidence waned in the wake of higher gasoline prices, but their view of their present situation rose to the highest level since September 2008.
Spot gold was flat at $1,680.09 an ounce by 0307 GMT, after falling more than half a percent in the previous session.
U.S. gold edged down 0.3 percent to $1,680.10. Investors will closely watch data from the United States for the rest of the week, including February durable goods orders later in the day, weekly initial jobless claims on Thursday,
February personal income and spending, March Chicago PMI and University of Michigan March sentiment readings on Friday.
SocGen's Friesen expected the U.S. data to take a turn for the worse in coming months and the Fed to eventually adopt more monetary easing to stimulate growth.
SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, said its holdings edged down 0.16 percent to 1,286.62 tonnes by Tuesday, after gaining 6 tonnes, or half a percent, in the previous session.
Asia's physical market was muted despite the price spike in the previous session, as investors weighed Bernanke's comments from the past few days.
"People are not sure about what Bernanke has said and has not said, and they are waiting for more cues on prices," said a Singapore-based dealer.
India's jewellers remained on strike, but the government has agreed to examine their demands for removal of an excise duty on unbranded jewellery, but won't reduce import duty on gold and platinum.
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