Gold futures settled lower on Wednesday amid prospects of more interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve in the coming months.
The dollar's rise on upbeat economic data weighed as well on gold prices. The dollar index climbed to 103.15 in late morning trades, and despite easing to 102.93 subsequently, remained firmly up in positive territory, gaining about 0.45%.
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said during a panel discussion at the European Central Bank Forum on Central Banking in Sintra, Portugal, that he expects additional interest rate hikes in the months ahead and added that raising rates at consecutive meetings is not off the table.
Gold futures for August ended lower by $1.60 at $1,922.20 an ounce, the lowest settlement in three months.
Silver futures for July ended down $0.071 at $22.889 an ounce, while Copper futures for July settled at $3.7225 per pound, down $0.0480 from the previous close.
Data released on Tuesday showed new orders for key manufactured capital goods unexpectedly rose in May.
Sales of new single-family homes surged in the month and a measure of U.S. consumer confidence surged to a near 1-1/2 year high in June, separate reports showed on Tuesday. All these have helped ease concerns about an impending recession.
