Precious metals continue to turn pale

Recently stronger U.S. dollar continues to impact prices

Bullion prices declined on Tuesday, 12 November 2013 at Comex. Gold futures declined on Tuesday, settling at their lowest level in a month, as Federal Reserve officials suggested that the central bank may decide to taper its bond-buying program as early as December. Silver prices too dropped.

Gold for December delivery fell $9.90, or 0.8%, to settle at $1,271.20 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.

December silver was also under pressure, dropping 50 cents, or 2.4%, to $20.78 an ounce, ending below $21 for the first time since early August.

The recently stronger U.S. dollar has also been a bearish weight on the precious metals markets recently. The U.S. dollar index is hovering near a two-month high. Following last week's stronger U.S. jobs report, there are growing ideas the U.S. Federal Reserve will begin to back off on its easing of monetary policy in the not-too-distant future. Some in the market place now expect the Fed to begin tapering its monthly bond-buying program (quantitative easing) as early as December. The greenback is also supported by last week's surprise move by the European Central Bank to lower its main interest rate to a record-low 0.25%.

There continue to be reports of weak demand for physical gold coming from Asian countries, which remains an underlying bearish fundamental factor for the gold market.

U.S. economic data released Tuesday included the Chicago Fed national activity index and the employment trends index. Neither had a significant impact on the market place.

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