Gold turned lower on Tuesday, after nearing the prior session's 15-month top, as the US dollar moved higher and a Federal Reserve official pointed to the possibility of two interest rate hikes in 2016. Spot gold was down 0.4 percent at $1,285.69 an ounce by 2:33 pm EDT (1833 GMT), off a session high of $1,302. It reached its strongest level since January 2015 at $1,303.60 an ounce on Monday.
US gold futures for June delivery settled down 0.3 percent at $1,295.80 an ounce. Pressure came from the US dollar against a basket of major currencies, which shifted higher for the first time in seven sessions in a dramatic turnaround from its lowest level in more than 15 months. "Any correction in the dollar is going to lend a correction in gold," said Eli Tesfaye, senior market strategist for brokerage RJO Futures in Chicago.
Technically, both the gold and dollar markets were correcting, Tesfaye said, adding that gold broke above an "ascending triangle" late last week when the dollar fell below a "descending triangle." Among other precious metals, silver was down 0.6 percent. Platinum was down 1.2 percent at $1,062.12 an ounce, after rising to a 10-month high of $1,089.70 an ounce, while palladium fell 3.2 percent to $597.97 an ounce.
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