2017.03.2214:03:00UTC+00Gold Rises A Fifth Day

Gold futures nudged higher Wednesday, touching its best levels in three weeks amid geopolitical tensions and dovish hints from the U.S. Federal Reserve.

Violence outside the UK parliament in London renewed concerns about anti-EU sentiment and/or Muslim hostilities around the region. House of Commons is on lockdown and top tourist sites are closed after the terrorist incident.

Falling equities have also boosted gold's appeal of late, although stocks were mixed today in afternoon trading.

April gold settles at $1,249.70/oz, up $3.20, or 0.3%, the fifth straight daily advance.

There was little reaction to some downbeat U.S. economic data.

Existing home sales in the U.S. saw a sharp pullback in the month of February, according to a report released by the National Association of Realtors on Wednesday.

NAR said existing home sales tumbled by 3.7 percent to an annual rate of 5.48 million in February after jumping by 3.3 percent to a rate of 5.69 million in January. Economists had expected sales to drop to 5.58 million.