NEW YORK (AFX) - Gold and silver futures couldn't hang onto early gains and settled lower again Tuesday, with selling coming from short-term speculators and helped along by the continuing decline in crude oil.
December gold fell $3 to settle at $594.30 a troy ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange, after falling below $600 the day before for the first time since June.
December silver gave up 10 cents to $11.14 an ounce.
December palladium also slipped late in the session, settling down $3.95 at $312.10 an ounce. However, October platinum managed a $7.90 gain to settle at $1,208.50 an ounce.
The platinum futures had fallen more than $100 from last week's high to Monday's low as metals in general tumbled in recent sessions.
A rebound in the dollar and a subsequent drop in crude oil prices led to a lower close for copper. Most-active December copper settled down 4.45 cents at $3.3730 per pound.
October light, sweet crude settled down $1.85, or at $63.76 a barrel, the lowest close for a front month contract since March 27.
October unleaded gasoline settled down 4.25 cents at $1.5521 a gallon. October heating oil settled down 4.57 cents at $1.7597 a gallon.
October natural gas settled down 9.6 cents at $5.574 a million British thermal units.
On the New York Board of Trade, September Arabica coffee futures closed down 0.15 cent at $1.0010 a pound and December lost 0.10 cent at $1.0365.
December cocoa finished down $1 at $1,477 per metric ton.
Futures on raw sugar in foreign ports for October settled up 0.14 cent at 11.55 cents a pound.
On the Chicago Board of Trade, September corn declined 5.25 cents to $2.2350 per bushel. September soybeans ended 4.75 cents lower at $5.2725 per bushel. December wheat settled 10.50 cents lower at $4.0250 per bushel.
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