US gold futures handed back the previous session's gains Tuesday in the face of broad-based commodity weakness triggered by a stronger dollar, as well as liquidation pressure because of a still-tight credit market, analysts said.
GOLD: December settled down $13.70, or 1.8 percent, at $732.80 an ounce on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Range $725.50 to $749.90. COMEX estimated final volume at 129,480 lots, and options turnover at 21,937 contracts. Spot gold at $734.25 at 3:05 pm EST (2005 GMT), down 1.6 percent from Monday's close of $745.80.
SILVER: December ended down 41.50 cents, or 4.1 percent, to $9.805 an ounce. COMEX estimated final volume at 16,995 lots. Spot silver at $9.73, down 4 percent from Monday's close of $10.13.
PLATINUM: NYMEX January platinum settled $33.30 lower, or 3.9 percent, at $826.60 an ounce. Spot platinum fetched $813.50, down 4 percent from Monday's finish.
PALLADIUM: December palladium closed down $2.75, or 1.2 percent, to $219.25 an ounce, wweighed down by PGMs' decline. Spot palladium fetched $212, down 2.5 percent from its previous close.