Second day in a row of losses for the gold bullion dollar

Gold prices fell for a second straight session on Tuesday, remaining at a more than nine-month low, as a strengthening dollar kept the precious metal under pressure, which climbed to a 20-year high earlier today.

After all, gold has been under pressure for days on expectations that the Federal Reserve will continue its aggressive interest rate hikes to tame galloping inflation, as Lukman Otunuga, market analyst at FXTM, noted in a note.

“The precious metal is under pressure and could experience more pain if the upcoming US CPI report meets or exceeds market expectations,” Otunuga added. Noting that US June inflation data will be released tomorrow wednesday

After all, since gold touched its 2022 peak above $2,000 an ounce in March, it has been largely driven by a strengthening dollar that is at a 20-year high, based on the US Dollar Index that after compared to a basket of major currencies, while the increased yields on government bonds have “stole” investors away from precious metals, which do not offer returns anyway.

“The worst inflationary environment in four decades has proved unsupportive for gold prices, which are heading for a new round of annual lows against the US dollar,” Chris Vecchio, strategist at DailyFX, noted in a commentary, adding that prices of the precious metal are likely to slip below $1,700 in the coming months.

In today’s session in particular, the August gold contract fell as low as $1,721.60 before paring its losses a bit to end the day at $1,724.80 an ounce, down $6.90, or 0.4 %. That was the lowest close for the most active contract since Sept. 29, 2021, according to FactSet data.

Silver also slipped to its lowest level since the summer of 2020 on Tuesday, with the contract for September delivery losing 17 cents, or 0.9%, to settle at $18,958 an ounce.

The other precious metals also recorded losses. In particular, platinum for October delivery lost $32.60, or 3.8%, to settle at $828.10 an ounce, while the September copper contract fell 14 cents, or nearly 4.2%, to end at $3,288. , the lowest level since November 2020, while palladium for September delivery plunged 7.2%, or $156, to settle at $2,015.60 an ounce, after three straight sessions of gains.