Gold Rallied from 3 Weeks Low

Gold rose from its lowest in three weeks amid buying by jewelers and investors from the Middle East who judged the metal was cheap enough to buy.

The bullion earlier fell to $623.35 an ounce in Asia, the lowest intraday price since Nov. 21. Gold, sold in dollars, dropped 3.2 percent last week, the first decline in three, after better-than-expected economic data from the U.S. led its currency to rise.

"Gold bounced back on physical buying from the Middle East,'' Peter Tse, chief precious metals trader at ScotiaMocatta, the bullion arm of Bank of Nova Scotia, said from Hong Kong today. "They are taking advantage of the recent low prices,'' he said.

Gold for immediate delivery rose as much as $5.60, or 0.9 percent, to $630.75 an ounce. It traded at $627.45 an ounce at 1:01 p.m. Mumbai time.