Gold prices fell to a more than six-month low on Tuesday, pressured by prospects of rising US interest rates amid a strengthening economy. Spot gold was down 0.3 percent at $1,260.72 an ounce, as of 0800 GMT, after touching its weakest since Dec. 18, 2017 at $1,257.74 earlier in the session. US gold futures for August delivery were 0.5 percent lower at $1,262.40 per ounce.
"Rising trade tensions should have (but did not) help gold's cause all that much. Instead, it seems that the concern of rising interest rates, particularly in the US, continues to gnaw away at gold, as does the fact that the fund length is fleeing," INTL FCStone analyst Edward Meir said in a note.
"Trade tensions aren't helping gold at all, there is only one clear trend which is skewed to the downside. By looking at the chart, it appears that bulls have left the town," said ThinkMarkets chief market analyst Naeem Aslam. "The market certainly looks susceptible to some further declines until data shows any sort of weakness in the US economy in particular," said ANZ analyst Daniel Hynes.