Gold prices, on Thursday, December 22, plunged for a third straight session, adding to their December retreat, even as the dollar slipped from a 14-year high notched earlier this week.
Gold for February delivery GCG7, -0.16% was off $1.50, or 0.1%, at $1,131.70 an ounce, after logging narrow declines on Tuesday and Wednesday and falling in six of the last eight trading sessions.
The ICE Dollar Index DXY, -0.09% fell 0.1% to 102.87 Thursday. The dollar gauge, which measures the strength of the buck against a basket of six currencies, on Tuesday closed at its highest level since December 2002, according to FactSet data.
The precious metal has fallen 3.2% so far in December, weighed by a rising dollar and higher interest rates. As gold is priced in dollars, any advances for the greenback make the metal more expensive for other currency holders, presumably cutting their demand, MarketWatch reports.
Additionally, rising yields make it more attractive to invest in assets that pay interest, which gold does not.
For the year, gold and silver are poised for their most robust gains since 2012. Gold is headed for a roughly 6% advance for 2016, boosted by early-year gains scored when expectations for interest-rate increases by the Federal Reserve were more subdued.
Meanwhile, March silver SIH7, -0.37% fell 12 cents, or 0.8%, to $15.86 an ounce Thursday, while high-grade copper HGH7, -0.08% fell 3 cents, or 1.3%, to $2.47 a pound.
January platinum PLF7, -0.01% lost $6.10, or 7%, to $908.30 an ounce. March palladium PAH7, +0.24% gave up $7.05, or 1.1%, to $652.85 an ounce.
