Dull day for bullions

Strong dollar impacts prices

Bullion prices ended lower at Comex on Tuesday, 29 October 2013. Gold futures fell below $1,350 an ounce on Tuesday, as traders studied a spate of U.S. economic data releases, including a bigger-than-expected drop in consumer confidence, for their potential impact on the Federal Reserve's monetary-policy decision this week. Traders also focused on the Federal Open Market Committee's two-day meeting, which concludes Wednesday. A strong dollar also impacted prices.

December gold shed $6.70, or 0.5%, to settle at $1,345.50 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.

December silver lost almost 5 cents, or 0.2%, to $22.49 an ounce after a 0.5% fall a day earlier.

The dollar index rose by 0.4% on Tuesday.

Among economic reports expected for the day, the Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index plummeted in October, falling from an upwardly revised 80.2 (from 79.7) to 71.2 (73.1 consensus). The entire decline in confidence can be attributed to the reaction to the government shutdown and near-default by the U.S. Treasury.

Separately, September retail sales declined 0.1% to follow an August increase of 0.2% (-0.1% consensus). The headline decline in retail sales masked an otherwise strong report, especially considering that private payroll growth was much weaker than expected. The entire decline in sales was the result of a 2.2% drop in motor vehicle demand.

Total business inventories increased 0.3% in August after increasing 0.4% in July (+0.2% consensus). Also of note, September producer prices fell 0.1% after increasing 0.3% in August (+0.2% consensus). That was the first monthly decline since prices fell 0.7% in April.

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