Gold fell nearly 1 percent on Tuesday, retreating from a one-week high set earlier in the session, as encouraging US housing activity stirred fears the Federal Reserve will soon decide to reduce its bond-buying stimulus program. Bullion came under pressure after data showed permits for future US home construction hit a near 5-1/2 year high in October, and a report showed the S&P/Case Shiller composite index of home prices in 20 metropolitan areas jumped 13.3 percent in September.
Spot gold was down 0.9 percent at $1,241.24 an ounce by 3:05 pm EST (2005 GMT), having earlier hit $1,256.49 in early trading, its highest since November 20.
US gold futures outperformed spot bullion, and they settled up 20 cents at $1,241.40 an ounce.
Silver fell 2.4 percent to $19.81 an ounce, having fallen to its lowest level since early August at $19.54 in the previous session.
Platinum dropped 1.2 percent to $1,367.30 an ounce, while palladium slipped 0.5 percent to $715.47 an ounce.