FX.co ★ Gold Futures Settle Lower As Dollar Climbs Higher

Gold prices fell on Wednesday as the dollar climbed higher amid expectations of aggressive policy tightening by the Federal Reserve.

A weak Euro following the Russian gas-halt to Poland Bulgaria contributed as well to the dollar's sharp uptick.

The dollar index scaled a fresh 25-month high, rising to 103.28 in late morning trades today, before paring some gains and dropping to 102.85, still up with a fairly solid gain of 0.54%.

Gold futures for June ended down by $15.40 or about 0.8% at $1,888.70 an ounce, after having snapped a five-day losing streak on Tuesday.

Silver futures for July ended lower by $0.085 at $23.505 an ounce, while Copper futures for July settled at $4.4750 per pound, up $0.0110 from the previous close.

In U.S. economic news, pending home sales in the U.S. decreased for the fifth straight month in March, according to a report released by the National Association of Realtors.

NAR said its pending home sales slumped by 1.2% to 103.7 in March after plunging by 4% to a revised 105.0 in February. Economists had expected pending home sales to tumble by 1.6%.