Gold Settles In The Red, Weighed By Dollar's Gain

Gold futures settled slightly lower Tuesday as the U.S. dollar firmed in late trade, helping to erase a slight advance for the dollar-sensitive metal. December gold closed $2.10 , or 0.2%, lower at $1,262.60 an ounce. The ICE U.S. Dollar Index , a gauge of the buck against a half-dozen currency rivals, pivoted up, rising by 0.2%. late-morning in New York to trade 0.2% higher after an upbeat report on employment. So-called JOLTS data, which measures monthly job openings, came in at 6.163 million in June, exceeding both the expected 5.6 million and last month's 5.702 million. The report was seen by some commodity investors as keeping intact the Federal Reserve's plan to raise interest at least once more in 2017, a headwind for gold prices. Overall, gold has only seen modest moves over the past few trading sessions trading in a relatively tight range of between $1,250 and $1,280 an ounce over the past few weeks.