MW: Gold futures open lower as U.S. dollar rises vs. rivals
By Kate Gibson, MarketWatch
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Gold futures dropped on Tuesday, as the U.S. dollar gained and Wall Street readied for opening losses.
The metal appeared "unable to sustain upward momentum, as equity-market weakness and broad dollar gains fueled selling pressure," noted analysts at Action Economics.
Gold for December delivery fell $15.20 to $1,213.3 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
On Monday, it shed 30 cents, or 0.02%, to $1,228.50 an ounce. Trading volume was light.
"During Monday's session, equity-market losses encouraged some speculative accounts to liquidate gold positions to cover losses, although the downturn is expected to be limited from here. Support is seen just under $1,220 and towards the $1,212-15 area," said Action Economics.
Wall Street appeared poised for a sharply lower start, with futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average trading down 111 points at 10,046.
The dollar index (DXY 83.46, +0.34, +0.40%) , which measures the performance of the greenback against a basket of other major currencies, rose 0.4% at 83.49.
