The price of gold closed slightly lower on Tuesday, extending the monthly low reached in the previous session. The precious metal has finished lower in six of the eight sessions in 2009.
Gold for February delivery finished at $820.70, down 30 cents on the session. The precious metal extended its monthly intraday low to $814, but later touched as high as $831.40.
The greenback was mixed against major counterparts on Tuesday in New York, extending a monthly high against the euro to 1.3140. The dollar reached an eight-day high of 1.4475 against the pound, but also hit a three-week low of 0.8877 versus the yen.
On the economic front, a Commerce Department report showed that the trade deficit narrowed to $40.4 billion in November from a revised $56.7 billion in October. Economists had expected the deficit to narrow to $51.0 billion from the $57.2 billion originally reported for the previous month.
Meanwhile, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said Tuesday that authorities will have to take further action to help pull the country out of the current recession and to continue to stabilize financial markets.
Crude oil closed modestly higher on a highly-volatile day of trading, adding to gold's hedge appeal. Light sweet crude for February delivery added 51 cents to $38.10 for the session. The daily gain snapped a five-day losing streak for oil.
The precious metal is down 7.2% in the new year. On Monday, prices fell to $821.00 per ounce, a drop of $34 or 4% for the session.
