Gold futures ended lower Tuesday as global stocks staged a rebound and the dollar strengthened a bit, dulling bullion's appeal and sending prices to the lowest finish in almost three weeks.
June gold GCM19, -0.07% on Comex lost $4.10, or 0.3%, to settle at $1,273.20 an ounce, after booking a modest rise on Monday. The yellow metal logged the lowest most-active contract settlement since May 2, and turned slightly lower week to date, according to FactSet data.
"The U.S. dollar has risen in value across other currencies, as capital has surged into [the dollar] rather than gold," Jeff Wright, executive vice president of GoldMining Inc. told MarketWatch. The ICE U.S. Dollar Index DXY, +0.05% a gauge of the buck against a basket of a half-dozen rivals, was up 0.1%, at 98.022 as gold futures settled.
"Not a lot of meaningful economic news this week; leading into Memorial Day so market activity is already reduced," Wright said. "Gold could drift even lower through the week."
Gold's recent gains had been supported by increased U.S.-China trade tensions and worries about other political uncertainties, including the threat of military escalation between Iran and the U.S. and a disorderly exit from the European Union by Britain.
"Despite fears of a trade war, Brexit uncertainty and the upcoming European election, investors' appetite for safe haven assets remains moderate," wrote Carlo Alberto De Casa, chief analyst at ActivTrades.
"From a technical point of view, a first positive signal would be a recovery to $1,290, while a fall below the recent low of $1,266 could open space for a further decline," he wrote, in a daily research note.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, -0.39% and the S&P 500 index SPX, -0.28% were moving higher in Tuesday dealings, with most equity markets in Europe and China finishing in positive territory.
Gold futures managed to pare some of its earlier losses after data on U.S. existing-home sales showed an adjusted annual rate of 5.19 million in April, 0.4% lower than March.
Assets considered risky, such as stocks, appeared to gain some buoyancy after the U.S. Commerce Department said it would grant 90-day licenses for some companies to continue exporting to Huawei Technologies. That move provided some respite for stocks after the crackdown on the Chinese telecom prompted a retreat from U.S. chip manufacturers and the broader market on Monday. Huawei is viewed as one front of the Sino-American trade tensions.
The gold-backed SPDR Gold Shares exchange-traded fund GLD, -0.10% tipped 0.4% lower.
Among other metals, July silver SIN19, -0.20% fell 3.5 cents, or 0.2%, to $14.41 an ounce. July copper HGN19, -0.21% meanwhile, settled at $2.715 a pound, down 1.1 cents, or 0.4%. July PLN19, -0.61% added $1.20, or 0.2%, to end at $815.40 an ounce, while June palladium PAM19, -0.51% fell $18.50, or 1.4%, at $1,312.50 an ounce.
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