By Claudia Assis and Virginia Harrison, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Gold futures retreated Tuesday, as investors mulled U.S. economic data and more negative developments from Europe ahead of a leaders’ summit later this week.
Gold for August delivery GCQ2 -0.84% lost $10.80, or 0.7%, to $1,577.70 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
The metal jumped 1.4% in Monday’s session as pessimism about this week’s European Union summit helped drive investment demand.
Ahead of the meeting, more signs of distress in the region’s financial system emerged.
Cyprus joined the ranks of European countries seeking financial aid, and Spain formally asked for help for its banking system. Late Monday, Moody’s Investor Service downgraded 28 Spanish banks by one to four notches.
Also Tuesday, the Conference Board said its consumer confidence index declined to 62 in June, its lowest level since January. Economists polled by MarketWatch had expected consumer confidence to decline to 63.
A gauge of home prices, however, showed a rise. The S&P/Case Shiller 20-city composite index gained 1.3%, lessening its on-year decline to 1.9% from 2.6%.
The broader metals complex followed gold lower. July silver SIN2 -1.51% dropped 35 cents, or 1.3%, to $27.18 an ounce, while July copper HGN2 -0.24% turned lower, losing less than 1 cent, or 0.1%, to $3.31 per pound.
July platinum PLN2 -0.51% slipped $7.40, or 0.5%, to $1,432 an ounce. September palladium lost $6.20, or 1.1%, to $598.60 an ounce.
Claudia Assis is a San Francisco-based reporter for MarketWatch.
Virginia Harrison is a MarketWatch reporter based in Sydney.
