Investing.com - Gold futures declined on Tuesday, as investors booked profits from the previous session's seven-week high, but losses remained limited amid mounting expectations that the Federal Reserve will not lift interest rates this year.
Gold for December delivery on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange shed $4.50, or 0.39%, to trade at $1,160.30 a troy ounce during European morning hours.
On Monday, gold rallied to $1,168.60, the most since August 24, before ending at $1,164.50, up $8.60, or 0.74%.
Prices of the precious metal have been well supported in recent sessions amid reduced expectations that the Federal Reserve will hike interest rates before the years end.
A delay in raising interest rates would be seen as bullish for gold, as it decreases the relative cost of holding on to the metal, which doesn't offer investors any similar guaranteed payout.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, fell to a three-week low of 94.65.
Investors were looking ahead to U.S. economic reports on retail sales and inflation later in the week for further clues as to the future path of interest rates.
The timing of a Fed rate hike has been a constant source of debate in the markets in recent months.
Elsewhere in metals trading, copper for December delivery on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange slumped 2.3 cents, or 0.94%, to $2.392 a pound during morning hours in New York.
Appetite for growth-linked assets weakened after data showed Chinese imports tumbled 20.4% in September on a year-over-year basis, far worse than expectations for a drop of 15.0% and the eleventh straight monthly decline.
Exports fell by a smaller than forecast 3.7% from a year earlier, resulting in a trade surplus of $60.34 billion.
The Asian nation is the world’s largest copper consumer, accounting for almost 40% of world consumption last year.