Gold for February delivery was recently up 0.4% at $1.137.60 a troy ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.

On Wednesday, the WSJ Dollar Index, which measures the dollar against other currencies, was down 0.3% at 93.06. A weaker dollar is bullish for the metal, because it makes dollar-priced commodities more affordable for investors who hold other currencies.

According to Dow Jones, the dollar's decline provided some breathing room for gold, which has been under pressure as the U.S. currency strengthened to a 14-year high on Tuesday. The metal has also been under pressure from an interest-rate increase by the U.S. Federal Reserve last week, paired with comments indicating that further raises are expected for next year.