Gold fell for a third straight session on Tuesday as a rebound in European and US stock markets undermined the metal's appeal as a haven from risk, and as the dollar strengthened against a basket of currencies. Spot gold was down 0.3 percent at $1,090.30 an ounce at 2:39 pm EST (1939 GMT), while US gold futures for February delivery settled down 1 percent at $1,085.20 an ounce.
The metal pared losses as US and European shares came off their highs when depressed oil prices failed to sustain a rally, while the US dollar rose for the third straight session. The rise in stocks suggested risk appetite is recovering after last week's rout. "(We're) looking for gold to perhaps get down to the $1,055-1,060 level as we expect a bounce in the equity markets to continue on account of earnings that likely will be no worse than estimates, stabilising macro readings from a number of countries, including China ... and a possible jump in oil," said INTL FCStone analyst Edward Meir.
Among other precious metals, palladium took the biggest dive, sliding 6.3 percent to a 5-1/2 year low of $449.55 an ounce before paring losses to $473.40 an ounce. Silver was down 0.3 percent at $13.82 an ounce, while platinum was down 1.2 percent at $832.95 an ounce.