Gold settles lower as dollar strengthens

CHICAGO, May 23 (Xinhua) -- Gold futures on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange fell on Wednesday amid a stronger U.S. dollar.

The most active gold contract for June delivery went down 2.40 dollars, or 0.19 percent, to settle at 1289.60 dollars per ounce.

The U.S. dollar index, a measure of the greenback against a basket of other major currencies, rose 0.45 percent to 94.01 as of 1613 GMT.

Gold and the dollar typically move in opposite directions. When the dollar goes up, gold futures will fall as gold, priced in the dollar, becomes less attractive to investors using other currencies.

Meanwhile, the Dow Jones Industrial Average retreated by 151.27 points, or 0.61 percent to 24,683.14 points as of 1624 GMT. The downturn in stock market curbed the fall of gold.

However, gold futures rallied during the electronic trading after U.S. Federal Reserve released minutes of its latest currency policy meeting, which many investors saw as less aggressive.

As for other precious metals, silver for July delivery went down 17 cents, or 1.03 percent, to settle at 16.405 dollars per ounce. Platinum for July was down 8 dollars, or 0.88 percent, to close at 900.80 dollars per ounce. Enditem