Gold down on stronger U.S. dollar

Gold futures on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange fell on Tuesday as the U.S. dollar showed strength.

The U.S. Dollar Index rose by 0.84 to 97.70 as of 1745 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.

Gold was prevented from falling further as weakness in the U.S. healthcare sector drove the U.S. Dow Jones Industrial Average down by 213 points, or 1.17 percent as of 1745 GMT.

Analysts note that when equities post losses, the precious metal usually goes up, as investors are looking for a safe haven, while the opposite is true when U.S. equities post gains.

As no significant economic data was released on Tuesday, investors are focused on the potential for the U.S. Federal Reserve to raise rates from 0.50 to 0.75 during the December FOMC meeting.

According to the CME Group's Fedwatch tool, the current implied probability of a hike from 0.50 to 0.75 is at 10 percent for the November 2016 meeting, and 70 percent at the December meeting.

Traders are looking to the week ahead for several Fed speeches on Wednesday, along with the release of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting minutes from the previous meeting of the U.S. central bank. Additionally, jobless claims will be released on Thursday, and the producer price index and retail sales report will be released on Friday.

Silver for December delivery dropped 15 cents, or 0.85 percent, to close at 17.509 dollars per ounce. Platinum for 2017 January delivery fell 15.6 dollars, or 1.62 percent, to close at 949.8 dollars per ounce. Endit