• The price of gold has turned downward as the US dollar comes off its lows and financial markets await US President Donald Trump's speech to Congress regarding his policies on tax reforms and government spending.
• The most active gold contract for April delivery fell 0.4 per cent, or $US4.90, lower at $US1,253.90 an ounce .
• Gold price below the previous session's three-and-a-half-month high of $US1,263.80. It was on track to finish February up around 3.3 per cent, marking its second straight monthly rise.
• The US dollar index , in which gold is priced, was flat after falling 0.3 per cent. Major stock markets dipped while US Treasury yields came off their session lows.
• Investors are shifting their attention to Trump's policy speech to a joint session of Congress at 9 pm Tuesday EST (1300 Wednesday AEDT Wednesday), when he is expected to provide clues on his tax-cutting plans.
• INTL FCStone analyst Edward Meir said in a note that any price movement following Trump's speech was likely to be short-lived because "many of the proposals need to translated into actual legislation and also need congressional approval".
• "Gold is currently stuck in a rather strong bullish trend as characterized by shallow retracements followed by quick trend resumption," said Fawad Razaqzada, technical analyst for Forex.com.
• "Thus, Monday's retreat from the 200-day moving average, while noticeable, could prove to be another ploy to get the bears trapped before it continues higher," he added.
• Sales of U.S. Mint American Eagle gold coins fell to a 14-month low while silver coin sales were also sharply lower in February, the latest government data showed on Tuesday, as bullion prices rose for the second straight month.
• The U.S. Mint sold 27,500 ounces of American Eagle gold coins in February, the lowest since December2015 and down 67 percent from a year ago, U.S. Mint data showed.
• American Eagle silver coin sales reached just over 1.2 million ounces in February, down 75 percent from February 2016.
• Spot silver rose 0.4 per cent to $US18.33 an ounce, in sight of the three-and-a-half-week high of $US18.48 set in the previous session.
Reference: Business News, Reuters
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