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1st LD Writethru: Gold falls on stronger U.S. dollar

Xinhua, May 20, 2015 Adjust font size:

Gold futures on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange plunged Tuesday as the U.S. dollar rebounded, putting pressure on the precious metal.

The most active gold contract for June delivery lost 20.9 U.S. dollars, or 1.70 percent, to settle at 1,206.70 dollars per ounce.

Gold was put under pressure Tuesday as the U.S. Dollar Index rose by 1.3 percent to 95.38 as of 1752 GMT. The index is a measure of the dollar against a basket of major currencies. Gold and the dollar typically move in opposite directions, which means if the dollar goes up, gold futures will fall as gold, measured by the dollar, becomes more expensive for investors.

The precious metal was also weighed on as a report released by the U.S. Department of Commerce showed housing starts rose 20.2 percent to an annual rate of 1.135 million. The same report showed permits increased by 10.1 percent to 1.143 million. Both figures were much better than expected and analysts said that the housing starts report released Tuesday is one of the strongest on record.

Silver for July delivery dropped 66.1 cents, or 3.73 percent, to close at 17.071 dollars per ounce. Platinum for July delivery went down 27.6 dollars, or 2.34 percent, to close at 1,150.90 dollars per ounce. Endite