Gold price loses ground as stocks stabilize, dollar gains

New York (Oct 30)  Gold futures lost some ground early Tuesday, with a stronger dollar serving to keep a lid on the yellow metal as investors gauged trade tensions and an effort by equities to stabilize a day after a volatile session that left U.S. stocks sharply lower.

December gold GCZ8, -0.33%  was off $5.20, or 0.4%, to $1,222.40 an ounce on Comex, while December silver SIZ8, -0.08%  was off 3.7 cents, or 0.3%, to $14.405 an ounce.

Gold prices “have eased a tad as the ‘big’ dollar finds support on worries over slowing economic growth and fears the Sino-U.S. trade war could intensify again,” said Dean Popplewell, vice president of market analysis at Oanda, in a note.

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The dollar was mostly higher, with the ICE U.S. dollar index, a gauge of the currency against a basket of six major rivals, up 0.3% to 96.858. A stronger dollar can be a negative for commodities as it makes them more expensive to users of other currencies.

Global equities appeared to find limited solace in remarks by President Donald Trump, who said he thought Washington and Beijing would make a “great deal.” At the same time, Trump told Fox News he had billions more in import duties at the ready to slap on Chinese goods if an agreement can’t be reached. U.S. stock-index futures were up slightly.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, -0.99%  saw a swing of more than 900 points in Monday’s session before ending sharply lower but off session lows. The S&P 500 SPX, -0.66%  ended within a whisker of correction territory, widely defined as a drop of 10% from a recent peak.

In other metals trade, January platinum PLF9, +0.04%  fell 0.1% to $835.80 an ounce, while December palladium PAZ8, -0.81%  was off 0.5% to $1,074 an ounce.

December copper HGZ8, -1.19%  fell 1.3% to $2.704 a pound.

MarketWatch