Gold futures were almost unchanged, while West Texas Intermediate oil futures fell sharply on Tuesday, as market participants looked ahead to fresh weekly information on U.S. stockpiles of crude.
Comex gold for December delivery lost $3.80, or 0.34%, to trade at $1,129.00 a troy ounce during European morning hours.
A day earlier, gold lost $5.00, or 0.44%, as the U.S. dollar rallied after Federal Reserve officials signaled the central bank is likely to raise interest rates this year.
St. Louis Fed President James Bullard and Atlanta Fed President
Dennis Lockhart both made the case for higher U.S. interest rates later
this year, putting gold under pressure.
Investors were now awaiting a speech by Fed Chair Janet Yellen later in the week for additional clarity on the bank’s decision last week to leave interest rates on hold.
Elsewhere, Nymex crude oil for delivery in November lost $1.17, or 2.48%, to trade at $45.80 a barrel during European trade.
Later in the day, the American Petroleum Institute will release its inventories report, while Wednesday’s government data could show crude stockpiles fell by 1.0 million barrels in the week ended September 18.
A day earlier, Nymex oil prices soared $1.94, or 4.31%, amid indications U.S. oil drillers are cutting back on production following a collapse in prices over the summer.
As industry research group Baker Hughes reported, the number of rigs drilling for oil in the U.S. decreased by eight last week to 644, the third straight weekly decline.
