2020.04.0718:35:00UTC+00Gold Futures Retreats After Surging Past $1,700, Settle Lower

Gold prices retreated on Tuesday, failing to hold early gains, with traders taking some profits after the commodity rose past $1,700 to its best levels in over 7 years.

The yellow metal eased despite the dollar paring early gains and falling deeper into negative territory.

The dollar index dropped to a low of 99.77 and was last seen at 99.85, down 0.82% from previous close.

Gold futures for June ended down $10.20, or about 0.6%, at $1,683.70 an ounce, the best close since mid December 2012, but well off the day's high of $1,742.60 an ounce.

Silver futures for May ended up $0.311 at $15.480 an ounce, while Copper futures for May closed at $2.2725 per pound, gaining $0.0050 for the day.

Investors look for more central bank and government stimulus to counter the economic fallout from the pandemic.

Despite continued spread of the coronavirus disease, the number of new infections and fatalities started to slow down, especially in Europe and Asia.

China reported zero new Covid-19 deaths for the first time since January, though the National Health Commission reported 32 new cases across the country, all of which were arrivals from another country. There were also 30 new asymptomatic cases

Globally, the number of people diagnosed with the virus now exceeds 1.3 million. More than 74,500 people have died while nearly 285,000 have recovered, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.