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Gold futures marked a fourth straight session decline on Tuesday to settle at their lowest since August, as strength in the U.S. dollar and fresh highs for U.S. stock benchmarks contributed to waning demand for haven gold.
The charts for gold “remain negative and the overall macroeconomic environment doesn’t have the feel of enough anxiety to reverse that bias,” analysts at Zaner Metals wrote in a daily report. “However, the market does appear to have found some support around the $1,450 level and Chinese auto sales for October were soft enough to foster some economic uncertainty.”
December gold GCZ19, +0.21% on Comex fell $3.40, or 0.2%, to settle at $1,453.70 an ounce, with prices for the most-active contract at their lowest settlement Aug. 1, according to FactSet data.
December silver SIZ19, -0.19%, meanwhile, shed 11 cents, or 0.7%, to $16.692 an ounce, with prices for the metal also suffering a fourth consecutive session decline.
In a much-awaited speech from President Donald Trump at the Economic Club of New York Tuesday, President Donald Trump said a U.S.-China trade deal “could happen soon,” and said a phase one agreement was “close.” He also warned that if a deal isn’t reached, the U.S. will “substantially raise the tariffs.” Trump didn’t offer any hints on the actual timing for a possible signing of the deal.
“Trump did not deliver any meaningful updates and that is why we saw little action over all asset classes,” said Edward Moya, senior market analyst at Oanda.
Meanwhile, stocks remained mostly buoyant with the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, -0.10% notching its ninth all-time high of 2019, while the U.S. dollar, as measured by the ICE U.S. Dollar Index DXY, +0.11%, edged up 0.1%. Stock gains and a stronger dollar can undercut appetite for assets considered havens like bullion.
January platinum PLF20, -0.89% lost 1.2% at $869.90 an ounce, for the lowest most-active contract settlement since late August.
“Platinum prices dropped some, as China lost car sales of electric and hybrid vehicles,” said George Gero, managing director at RBC Wealth Management. Palladium, meanwhile, saw prices edge higher, as the metal had “already had big sellers recently and some shorts [were] covering now,” said Gero.
December palladium PAZ19, +0.63% added 0.9% to $1,670.10 an ounce, after losing more than 3% in each of the last two trading sessions.
December copper HGZ19, -0.69% edged down by 0.7% to $2.6455 a pound.
