MW: Gold falls in face of surging dollar, weak crude prices
Gold futures fell Tuesday for the first time in five sessions, pressured by a rebound in the dollar and waning concerns about inflation.
The greenback, which rose against the euro for the first time in seven days, benefited from flight-to-safety moves in the wake of international concerns over North Korea's weapons testing.
Falling crude prices also helped gold move lower, as a weaker crude price tends to reduce gold's appeal as a hedge against inflation. Data that showed a jump in U.S. consumer confidence also helped reduce gold's safe-heaven appeal.
In late morning trading on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold for June delivery fell $11.40, or 1.2%, to $947.50 an ounce.
Gold was falling "amid the dollar-up, oil-down conditions," said Jon Nadler, senior analyst at Kitco Metals Inc.
"Normally, gold would react in a positive fashion to such geopolitical fireworks," he added, referring to North Korea's nuclear test. However, "the world and market scenes have been anything but normal of late."
The metal ended last week's trading up 3%, mainly boosted by a weaker dollar. Gold topped $960 an ounce Friday for the first session in nearly two months. As the dollar turned higher, gains in the metal lost steam.
ETF holdings rise
Holdings in the SPDR Gold Trust , the biggest exchange-traded fund backed by gold, stood at 1,118.76 metric tons Friday, up 13.14 metric tons from a day ago, according to latest data from the fund. It was the first increase in eight sessions.
In crude trading, oil fell on expectations that OPEC won't cut its production quota at Thursday's meeting in Vienna. See Futures Movers.
In economic news, a reading on U.S. consumer confidence jumped to 54.9 in May from an upwardly revised 40.8 in April as expectations for jobs improved, the Conference Board reported Tuesday.
The gain is the fourth-largest in the 32-year history of the survey, and the index is at its highest level in eight months. Economists were expecting the index to hit 43. See Economic Report.
In other metals trading, July copper rose 1.15 cents, or 0.6%, to $2.109 a pound.
July silver fell 18.5 cents, or 1.3%, to $14.51 an ounce. The June palladium contract fell $1.95, or 0.8%, to $231.70 an ounce, while July platinum lost $20.20, or 1.7%, to $1,139.80 an ounce.
Among metals-sector equities, shares of Barrick Gold Corp. fell 2.6% to $37.01 and South Africa's Gold Fields Ltd. lost 0.6% to $12.97, while Newmont Mining Corp. declined 0.3% to $46.90.
The Amex Gold Bugs Index , which tracks the share prices of major gold companies, sank 0.9% to 375.70.
The iShares Gold Trust ETF slid 0.7% to $93.49, while the iShares Silver Trust ETF fell 0.8% to $14.39.