US gold futures erased initial gains to turn lower Thursday as the dollar surged, while platinum eased following the previous session's solid gains due to a strike and merger news. December gold was down $3.00 at $880.00 an ounce on the Comex division of New York Mercantile Exchange at 9:55 am EDT (1355 GMT).
December ranged from $892.60 to $876.50 - a near two-month bottom. Bullion facing growing resistance from the recent rise of the dollar, but problems in the financial markets should support gold in the long term, trader said. Dollar advanced to a 5-1/2-month high after a surprise rise in the US pending home sales index for June.
Spot gold was quoted at $871.45/872.65 at New York's last trade, compared with $878.70/879.90 late Wednesday. October platinum was down $10.00 at $1,600.00 an ounce, after rising nearly 2 percent on Wednesday. Spot platinum was at $1,580.00/1602.00. September silver was down 20 cents or 1.2 percent at $16.305 an ounce, following gold's weakness.
Ranged from $16.695 to $16.165 - a near 7-month low. Spot silver was at $16.25/16.29 compared with $16.51/16.57 late Wednesday. September palladium was down $4.00 or 1.1 percent at $350.10 an ounce. Spot palladium was at $347.50/355.50.