WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - After two successive days of gains, gold futures settled slightly down on Tuesday despite a weak dollar, as investors awaited crucial economic data due later in the week.
The dollar index, which moved along the flat line during Asian and European sessions, dropped to 100.60 this afternoon, losing about 0.25%.
Gold futures for August ended down $1.70 or about 0.07% at $2,516.00 an ounce, still remaining very close to a 52-week high.
Silver futures for August settled at $29.951 an ounce, down $0.026 or about 0.09% from the previous close, while Copper futures for August advanced to $4.2310 per pound, gaining $0.0195.
Investors continued to closely follow the developments in Middle East. The risk of a wider conflict in the Middle East has lessened in the short term but Iran still poses a significant danger as it considers striking Israel, America's top general, Air Force General C.Q. Brown, said on Monday.
Elsewhere, Ukraine said it has a new long-range weapon to strike deep into Russia after a wave of Russian missiles and drones targeted Ukraine's electrical infrastructure in the largest such attack in weeks.
On the U.S. economic front, the Conference Board released a report this morning unexpectedly showing a modest improvement by U.S. consumer confidence in the month of August.
The report said the Conference Board's consumer confidence index rose to 103.3 in August from an upwardly revised 101.9 in July.
The increase surprised economists, who had expected the consumer confidence index to edge down to 100.1 from the 100.3 originally reported for the previous month.
Traders are also looking ahead to the release of Commerce Department's report on personal income and spending in the month of July, which includes readings on inflation said to be preferred by the Federal Reserve, on Friday.
Economists currently expect the report to show the annual rate of consumer price growth was unchanged at 2.5%, while the annual rate of core consumer price is expected to tick up to 2.7% in July from 2.6% in June.
While the data is not likely to affect optimism the Fed will lower rates next month, it could impact expectations for how quickly the central bank cuts rates.
During his speech at the Jackson Hole Economic Symposium last Friday, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said the 'time has come for policy to adjust' but noted the 'timing and pace of rate cuts will depend on incoming data, the evolving outlook, and the balance of risks.'
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