By Nick Godt & Claudia Assis, MarketWatch
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Gold futures extended losses following a report showing consumer confidence on the rise in March, but copper forged ahead Tuesday.
Gold for June delivery fell $5.20, or 0.4%, to $1,106.40 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Consumer confidence rose to 52.5 in March from 46.4 last month. Economists had expected an increase to 51.
Gold has struggled to break out of the tight range it has traded for the better part of this month. And a stronger dollar versus the euro was not making matters easier on Tuesday.
In recent action, the dollar index (DXY 81.42, +0.07, +0.08%) , which measures the U.S. unit against a basket of six major currencies, was up 0.1% at 81.42.
On Monday, gold for June rose 0.5% on dollar weakness, improved market sentiment and a report saying Chinese demand for gold could double in the next 10 years
Copper bucked the downward trend for metals - the metal for May delivery rose 3 cents, or 0.9%, to $3.57 a pound. Copper rose nearly 4% on Monday.
Bank of America Merrill Lynch sees copper rising further, to $3.63 a pound in the second quarter as demand is seen on the rise and copper mine output is still constrained, it said in a report Tuesday.
Silver for May delivery lost 10 cents, or 0.6%, to $17.27 an ounce.
