Gold futures on Tuesday logged their first consecutive losses in about two weeks, marking the steepest slide for the metal since early December, as a perkier U.S. dollar and an attempted rebound in equities kept the haven metal under selling pressure in the session.
The dollar rose 0.6% on the day, as measured by the ICE U.S. Dollar Index DXY, -0.27%, and is one pace for a weekly gain of 0.7%. A stronger dollar can be a headwind for assets priced in the currency like precious metals.
Meanwhile, stocks were trying to recover from volatile trading on Monday that was sparked by worries about a more transmissible strain of coronavirus spreading from the U.K.
“Global stock markets have stabilized Tuesday after hitting some fresh Covid turbulence on Monday, and that is keeping buyers of the safe-haven metals tentative so far today,” wrote Jim Wyckoff, senior analyst at Kitco.com.
Gold bulls still see longer-term positives for the yellow metal in the wake of a fresh $900 billion-fiscal stimulus package that was passed by Congress late Monday. Investors are betting that the fiscal aid package will continue to support the currency-devaluing thesis that has backed gold bids up to this point, even if investors are currently taking some profit by selling bullion.
February gold GCG21, 0.06% ended $12.50, or 0.6%, lower to settle at $1,870.30 an ounce, after shedding 0.3% on Monday. The drop marked its steepest in a session since Dec.9 and its first consecutive days of declines since the three-session skid that also ended Dec. 9, FactSet data show.
Silver for March delivery SIH21, 0.35%, meanwhile, shed 84.4 cents, or 3.2%, to settle at $26.535 an ounce, relinquishing far more than the the 1.3% gained in the previous session.
Elsewhere on Comex, March copper HGH21, 0.72% lost 5.75 cents, or 1.6%, to end at $3.52 an ounce.
January platinum PLF21, 0.68% shed $6.70, or 0.7%, to settle at $1,009.40 an ounce, while March palladium PAH21, 0.21% added $6.70, or 0.3%, to finish at $2,323.10 an ounce.