2022.05.2418:06:00UTC+00Gold Settles Higher For 4th Straight Session As Dollar Extends Slide

Gold prices climbed higher on Tuesday, extending gains to a fourth straight session, as the dollar continued to slide, and weak data raised concerns about growth.

A drop in U.S. long-term Treasury yields contributed as well to the yellow metal's uptick.

The dollar slid after European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde said eurozone interest rates will likely be in positive territory by the end of the third quarter, giving the euro a boost.

The dollar index dropped to 101.65, a near one-month low, before recovering slightly to 101.75, still down in negative territory with a loss of more than 0.3%.

Gold futures for June ended higher by $17.60 or about 1% at $1,865.40 an ounce, the highest settlement in about two weeks.

Silver futures for July ended up by $0.340 at $22.063 an ounce, while Copper futures for July settled at $4.3050 per pound, down $0.0405 from the previous close.

Data released by the Commerce Department showed a much steeper than expected drop in new home sales in the month of April.

The report showed new home sales plunged by 16.6% to an annual rate of 591,000 in April after tumbling by 10.5% to a revised rate of 709,000 in March.

Economists had expected new home sales to slump 1.7% to a rate of 750,000 from the 763,000 originally reported for the previous month.

With the much bigger than expected decrease, new home sales dropped to their lowest annual rate since hitting 582,000 in April of 2020.