Gold futures on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange gained more than two percent following a volatile session on Wednesday.

The most active gold contract for April delivery rose 27.6 dollars, or 2.07 percent, to close at 1358.00 dollars per ounce.

The U.S. Department of Labor released in the morning the Consumer Price Index (CPI)for January, which was up 0.5 percent, marking the biggest increase in five months.

The latest CPI added to recent worries about rising inflation, increasing prospects for four Federal Reserve interest rate hikes in 2018 instead of three.

This expectation supported the U.S. dollar index, a gauge of the greenback against a basket of other major currencies, and prompted some aggressive selling of the precious metal.

However, according to data released by the U.S. Department of Commerce also on Wednesday, advance estimates of retail and food services sales for January were 492 billion U.S. dollars, recording a decrease of 0.3 percent.

With a higher-than-expected inflation, the weak retail sales during the same period led to concerns of possible stagflation and reversed the downturn of gold futures as U.S. dollar index slid below 90 again.

As for other precious metals, silver for March delivery rose 35 cents, or 2.12 percent, to settle at 16.878 dollars per ounce. Platinum for April went up 23.40 dollars, or 2.40 percent, to close at 999.10 dollars per ounce.

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