Gold Toggles Between Gains and Losses as Dollar Firms

Gold prices shuffled between gains and losses Thursday, as traders digested a new tax plan from the White House and the dollar strengthened.

Gold for June delivery was recently unchanged at $1,264.60 a troy ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices were as high as $1,271.10 a troy ounce earlier in the session.

U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday called for deep reductions in business tax rates and major changes to the individual tax system. Big tax cuts would, in theory, boost the U.S. economy and buoy the dollar, making gold a less attractive option for investors. Some analysts have said, however, that Mr. Trump's plan was light on details and could face resistance from lawmakers.

"Generally you would expect a plan on something as complex as tax reform to take up more than a single A4 piece of paper," CMC Markets' Michael Hewson said.

Prices were also pressured by a rise in the dollar. The Wall Street Journal Dollar Index, which measures the U.S. currency against a basket of 16 others, was recently up 0.3% at 89.93.

Silver for July delivery was down 0.6% at $17.33 a troy ounce.

In base metals, copper for July delivery was down 0.8% at $2.5780 a pound, weighed down by a sharp drop in oil.

Fluctuations in the oil price tend to affect copper, as many funds trade the two commodities in a single basket, with a heavier share devoted to oil.

Write to Ira Iosebashvili at ira.iosebashvili@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 27, 2017 11:08 ET (15:08 GMT)