US gold finished lower Tuesday as the dollar gained on the euro and investors preferred investments that were less risky. Prices closed down 0.2%, marking a more than one week low. Platinum fell by the same percentage. Silver, however, registered a modest 0.4% gain.

In New York precious metal prices, April gold lost $1.70 to $1,122.30 an ounce. The yellow metal ranged from $1,108.20 to $1,125.10. May silver ended up 6.6 cents to $17.338 an ounce. April platinum declined $3.20 to finish at $1,596.90 an ounce.

"It’s all about the dollar," Leonard Kaplan, the president of Prospector Asset Management in Evanston, Illinois, said on Bloomberg. "With the dollar continuing to strengthen, gold doesn’t have a chance. There isn’t enough gold for China to make it its primary reserve. They have to hold dollars."

In PM London bullion prices, gold was fixed to $1,115.75 an ounce for a loss of $10.00. Silver retreated 28 cents to $17.050 an ounce. Platinum came in at $1,574.00 an ounce for a decline of $29.00.

"Gold needs a quick rebound towards the $1140.00 per ounce area, but now, maintenance of the low $1100’s or that figure itself become the focus of the day for gold players at this juncture as the heavy dose of thinly warranted bullishness that was recently on display appears to be fading due to external factors," wrote Jon Nadler, senior analyst at Kitco Metals, Inc.

"Extreme bullishness was dealt an unappetizing dish or crow overnight, as China’s head of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange made comments about his country’s reserves, gold, and related issues… The country does not intent to ‘dump’ dollars from its massive holdings — certainly not in favour of a massive amount of bullion."

New York crude oil for April delivery lost 38 cents, or 0.5%, to $81.49 a barrel. Gold, considered a hedge during times of high inflation and economic uncertainty, tends to follow oil and move opposite to the U.S. dollar. A rising greenback makes dollar-denominated commodities, like bullion, more expensive for holders of other world currencies.

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