US gold jumps 1 pct on fund buying, housing report

NEW YORK, March 20 (Reuters) - Buying by funds drove U.S. gold futures 1 percent higher early on Tuesday, as a robust housing report and a weaker dollar also helped push the precious metal contracts to its highest in more than two weeks.
At 10:32 a.m. EDT (1432 GMT), most-active gold futures for April delivery on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange was up $7.10, or 1.1 percent, at $661.40 an ounce. They traded between $653.30 and $662.00, the loftiest level since March 2.
Carlos Perez-Santalla at Hudson River Futures said that Tuesday's rally in gold was largely due to fund buying, as the dollar had barely moved.
The pace of U.S. home construction rose 9 percent in February, beating analysts' predictions and running against dismal news in the subprime home financing sector, a government report showed on Tuesday. [ID:nN20347031]