Gold fell around 2.5 percent on Tuesday, posting its largest two-day loss in nearly three months, as the dollar rallied after the Federal Reserve held its policy steady with no new market stimulus. Spot gold hit a seven-week low of $1,624.29, and was down 2.4 percent at $1,626.40 an ounce by 3:32 pm EST (2032 GMT), a day after posting its biggest one-day drop in nearly three months.
On charts, gold's next major technical support will be its 200-day moving average at $1,617 an ounce. US gold futures for February delivery settled down $5.10 at $1,663.10 an ounce. Volume was slightly lower than its 30-day average, in line with recent weaker trend near the year-end. Silver dropped 2.5 percent to $30.51 an ounce. Among platinum group metals, platinum fell 0.8 percent to $1,467.99 an ounce, a day after it hit a seven-week low of $1,476.23. Palladium dropped 3.1 percent to $637.22 an ounce.