Investing.com - Gold prices slipped near two-week lows on Tuesday, as a stronger U.S. dollar following recent upbeat U.S. data continued to weigh on the precious metal.
On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for December delivery were down 0.09% at $1,311.55, re-approaching the previous session’s two-week trough of $1,316.80.
The December contract ended Thursday’s session 0.33% lower at $1,312.70 an ounce.
Futures were likely to find support at $1,311.90, the low from September 16 and resistance at $1,327.70, Friday’s high.
The greenback strengthened after the Institute for Supply Management said on Monday that its index of manufacturing activity rose to 51.5 last month from August’s reading of 49.4. Analysts had forecast a lesser increase to 50.3.
The reports added to optimism over the strength of the economy after Friday’s upbeat U.S. consumer sentiment data.
Market participants were focusing on Friday’s U.S. nonfarm payrolls report for further indications on the strength of the job market, as the Federal Reserve has indicated that future interest rate decisions will be data-dependent.
Elsewhere in metals trading, silver futures for December delivery slipped 0.26% to $18.822 a troy ounce, while copper futures for December delivery declined 0.59% to $2.179 a pound.