The price of gold was facing stiff resistance at the $1,400-mark Tuesday morning amid a steady US dollar.
Earlier today, Bank of America Merrill Lynch trimmed its gold price forecasts for 2013, citing weak fundamentals and poor investment buying. The bank now expects gold prices to be around $1,478 an ounce in 2013, down 12 percent from its previous forecast of $1,680.
Gold for June delivery, the most actively traded contract, shed $6.10 to $1,380.50 an ounce.
Holdings of SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, were unchanged at 1,016.16 tons.
Meanwhile, the U.S. dollar continued to level off from its 6-week high versus the euro, while trading flat against sterling. The buck was steady near its 4-year high versus the yen, while hovering around its 10-month high against the Swiss franc.
In economic news from the euro zone, Germany's import prices declined for the fourth consecutive month in April, data from Destatis showed. Import prices were down 3.2 percent annually, faster than the 2.3 percent drop in March. This was the biggest fall since November 2009, it said. Economists had forecast prices to ease by 2.3 percent again in April.
Meanwhile, Switzerland's trade surplus decreased from the previous month in April, defying economists' forecast for an increase, latest data showed The merchandise trade surplus declined to CHF 1.73 billion in April from CHF 1.89 billion in March, the Federal Customs Administration said. The balance was lower than the CHF 2.05 billion surplus economists had forecast.
Elsewhere, the prices of silver and platinum were moving lower in morning deals.
From the U.S., the Conference Board will release its reading on consumer confidence for the month of May at 10 a.m ET. Economists expect the reading to come in at 71.0, slightly up from the previous reading of 68.1
