Investing.com - Gold prices were slightly lower Tuesday, erasing earlier gains as investors snapped up nicely priced gold positions after a rush to the dollar in U.S. and European sessions pummeled the precious metal.
On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for February delivery traded at USD1,667.45 a troy ounce during Asian trading, down 0.04% after shooting down by more than 3% in U.S. and European sessions.
Gold futures were likely to find short-term support at USD1,661.05 a troy ounce, Tuesday's low, and resistance at USD1,718.75, Monday's high.
Markets had given cautious approval to the European Union's Friday announcement that almost all member nations agreed to greater economic and fiscal integration.
The continent's leaders also agreed to allocate EUR200 billion to the International Monetary Fund to help bolster European assistance mechanisms.
Going into 2012, European leaders will have at their discretion funds from a 500 billion euro European Stability Mechanism on top of an existing but temporary 440 billion euro European Financial Stability Facility to prop up economies that run into trouble.
However, subsequent warnings from the Moody's ratings agency that the E.U. didn't go far enough sparked a sell-off of stocks, bonds and commodities worldwide, as investors ran to the safety of the U.S. dollar.
Markets are keeping a close eye on data hitting the wire later Tuesday.
The U.S. Federal Reserve will discuss interest rates while France and the U.K. are set to publish inflation data.
Retail sales data is due out in the U.S. as well, and should provide insight into the health of U.S. consumer spending, which accounts for about 70% of total U.S. economic output.
Fears that inflation may be on the rise either in Europe or the U.S. could send gold prices posting fresh gains.
Elsewhere on the Comex, silver for March delivery was up 0.81% and trading at USD31.25 a troy ounce, while copper for March was down 0.02% at USD3.454 a pound.
On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for February delivery traded at USD1,667.45 a troy ounce during Asian trading, down 0.04% after shooting down by more than 3% in U.S. and European sessions.
Gold futures were likely to find short-term support at USD1,661.05 a troy ounce, Tuesday's low, and resistance at USD1,718.75, Monday's high.
Markets had given cautious approval to the European Union's Friday announcement that almost all member nations agreed to greater economic and fiscal integration.
The continent's leaders also agreed to allocate EUR200 billion to the International Monetary Fund to help bolster European assistance mechanisms.
Going into 2012, European leaders will have at their discretion funds from a 500 billion euro European Stability Mechanism on top of an existing but temporary 440 billion euro European Financial Stability Facility to prop up economies that run into trouble.
However, subsequent warnings from the Moody's ratings agency that the E.U. didn't go far enough sparked a sell-off of stocks, bonds and commodities worldwide, as investors ran to the safety of the U.S. dollar.
Markets are keeping a close eye on data hitting the wire later Tuesday.
The U.S. Federal Reserve will discuss interest rates while France and the U.K. are set to publish inflation data.
Retail sales data is due out in the U.S. as well, and should provide insight into the health of U.S. consumer spending, which accounts for about 70% of total U.S. economic output.
Fears that inflation may be on the rise either in Europe or the U.S. could send gold prices posting fresh gains.
Elsewhere on the Comex, silver for March delivery was up 0.81% and trading at USD31.25 a troy ounce, while copper for March was down 0.02% at USD3.454 a pound.