Gold futures jumped on Tuesday as the greenback weakened on the Tuesday. Moreover the escalating concerns over Europe’s debt further boosted the safe haven status of the gold. The gold futures contract for February delivery gained 1.5 percent or $24.80 to settle at $1,655.60 per ounce on the Comex trading or the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The US dollar index DXY which tracks the greenback’s movement versus its six major counterpart currencies declined to 81.099 on Tuesday as compared to 81.436 on Monday’s late trading hours.

Vice President, George Gero at RBC Capital Markets commented, “The downgrades of the euro-zone countries means fiscal stimulus is not far behind.”

Investors were also optimistic about the metal after the news of increase in China’s GDP in the fourth quarter which also boosted the demand for silver. As per latest data, China’s fourth quarter gross domestic product increased 8.9 percent as compared to last year.

Among other metals, silver futures contract for March delivery surged 2.1 percent or $0.61 to settle at $30.14 per ounce while copper futures for the same month delivery advanced 2.5 percent or $0.09 to $3.73 per pound.

Platinum futures contract for April delivery jumped 2.7 percent or $39.90 to settle at $1,528.70 per ounce while palladium futures for March delivery soared 3.2 percent or $20.45 to settle at $655.50 per ounce at NYMEX.