Gold was up just over 0.4% overnight to US$1,809/oz, despite talk of higher US rates amid rising inflation.

All eyes will be on US Fed chief Jerome Powell, who begins his hearing before the Senate Banking Committee today.

"We will use our tools to support the economy and a strong labor market and to prevent higher inflation from becoming entrenched," Powell said in a brief opening statement on Monday.

Elsewhere, commodity prices were steady to slightly higher, prompting marginal share price increases for Rio Tinto (+0.36%) and Glencore (+0.41%).

Analysts at Deutsche Bank are feeling the love for miners, having raised earnings estimates across the board.

"With policy makers in China recently adopting a more supportive stance, we expect commodity consumption to recover through 2022 from current depressed levels, adjoined by a larger than usual post-winter rebound in activity, a global recovery in auto volumes and ongoing supply chain disruptions," said Deutsche's Liam Fitzpatrick.