Gold prices ended lower Tuesday, logging a fourth straight decline and the seventh down session out of the past eight, as a popular gauge of the dollar slipped but remained near its highest level in roughly 17 months.
December gold GCZ8, -0.03% fell $2.10, or 0.2%, to settle at $1,201.40 an ounce. It dipped to a low of $1,196.60, but also crossed briefly into positive territory to touch a high of $1,205.50. It marked its lowest finish for a most-active contract since Oct. 10, according to FactSet data.
December silver SIZ8, +0.11% lost 3.4 cents, or 0.2%, to $13.977 an ounce. That was the lowest settlement for a most-active contract since January 2016.
The SPDR Gold Shares ETF GLD, +0.83% was down nearly 0.1% and the iShares Silver Trust SLV, +0.99% lost almost 0.2%.
"Technically, gold bears have the firm overall near-term technical advantage, to suggest a challenge of the recent lows," said Jim Wyckoff, senior analyst with Kitco.com, noting that bears' near-term downside objective is a drop below solid technical support at the September low of $1,184.30.
Dollar influence continues to hold sway over gold, he said.
The ICE U.S. Dollar Index DXY, -0.02% a measure of the U.S. currency against six major rivals, was down 0.2% at 97.361. Its push above 97.57 Monday was the index's highest level since June of 2017, according to FactSet data. The gauge has climbed about 5.7% year to date, partly boosted by expectations for further tightening by the Federal Reserve. The Fed is expected to raise rates next month and thrice in 2019. Higher interest rates can boost the dollar and dull demand for dollar-denominated commodities.
"The market has been more focused on Fed action these days than on the possibility that inflation will push up commodity prices," analysts at Zaner Precious Metals wrote in a daily report. "Even a strong PPI number last Friday put the inflation bulls at bay, as it just seemed to bring interest rate hikes into focus."
The consumer-price index number will be released Wednesday, "and a strong gain in that number could bring in more selling in the metals on the same theme, though we suspect that the rate hike expectations may have already peaked," the analysts said.
In other metals trade, January platinum PLF9, +0.55% fell 0.5% at $841.30 an ounce, while December palladium PAZ8, +0.13% rose 0.6% to $1,092.10 an ounce. December copper HGZ8, +0.15% meanwhile, added 0.4% to $2.687 a pound.
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