US gold futures declined early Tuesday amid light liquidation and end-of-the-month fund rolling due to a firmer dollar, floor dealers said. "The funds have been doing some selling down here today. The funds are long, and the guys who are not getting out of those positions are rolling forward," said one dealer.
Gold for February delivery dropped $2.60 to $424.50 an ounce by 10:23 am EST (1513 GMT) on the New York Mercantile Exchange's COMEX division, dealing within a tight $424.10 to $428.20 range.
"This is all consolidation with the roll in front of the Iraq election this weekend and the Gross Domestic Product data at the end of this week," one floor source said.
In midmorning trade in New York, the euro was lower at around $1.3009 versus $1.3056 late Monday. The dollar firmed on the back of US consumer confidence rising in January after improving in December. The euro hit a high against the dollar at $1.3667 on December 30.
A stronger US currency makes dollar-priced metals less attractive to non-US investors.
Spot gold hovered at $424.00/4.80, down from Monday's late quote of $426.60/7.35. The afternoon fix in London was $424.50. March silver lost 9.0 cents to $6.77 an ounce, trading from $6.735 to $6.87.
Spot silver was quoted at $6.74/76, down from yesterday's late quote at $6.82/85. Tuesday's fix was $6.79.
NYMEX April platinum dropped $8.70 to $863.50 an ounce. Spot platinum fetched $861.50/866.50. March palladium lost $1.15 to $191.75 an ounce. Spot traded at $187.50/192.50.