Investing.com - Gold prices edged lower in early dealings on Wednesday, backing off its strongest level in around four months as the U.S. dollar moved higher against a currency basket.
A stronger U.S. dollar usually weighs on gold, as it dampens the metal's appeal as an alternative asset and makes dollar-priced commodities more expensive for holders of other currencies.
Comex gold futures were at $1,335.50 a troy ounce by 3:25AM ET (0825GMT), down around $2.00, or 0.1%, from the last session's closing price. It hit the best level since Sept. 8 at $1,345.00 a day earlier.
Meanwhile, silver futures were little changed at $17.19 a troy ounce. It reached a three-month high of $17.42 on Monday.
The dollar index, which gauges the U.S. currency against a basket of six major rivals, inched up from a more than three-year low. It was last at 90.38, after dropping as low as 89.98 on Tuesday, its deepest nadir since December 2014.
The greenback has been on the backfoot since last week on rising expectations that central banks in Japan and the euro zone could pare their monetary stimulus.
Markets will remain focused on the chances of a government shutdown stateside this week in the scenario Congress fails to pass a spending bill by Friday.
In other metals action, palladium prices tacked on 0.7% to $1,096.60 an ounce. It marked a record-high of $1,133 on Monday thanks to soaring demand for the auto industry.
Sister metal platinum meanwhile inched up 0.2% to $1,006.40 an ounce, after touching its strongest since Sept. 8 at $1,012.50 in overnight trade.
March copper dipped 0.6% to $3.201 a pound.