2022.05.1018:16:00UTC+00Gold Futures Settle Lower As Dollar Advances

Gold prices drifted lower on Tuesday as the dollar moved higher and hovered near two-decade highs amid prospects of steeper interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve in the coming months.

The dollar index climbed to 103.98 despite staying a bit sluggish earlier in the day. The index was up nearly 0.25% at 103.90 a little while ago.

A drop in long-term bond yields helped limit gold's decline.

Gold futures for June ended lower by $17.60 or about 0.9% at $1,841.00 an ounce.

Silver futures for July ended down by $0.396 at $21.424 an ounce, while Copper futures for July settled at $4.1545 per pound, down $0.0390 from the previous close.

Investor await Wednesday's release of the U.S. inflation data that could affect the Federal Reserve's monetary policy.

The Labor Department is due to release its report on consumer price inflation on Wednesday, with the annual rate of price growth expected to slow to 8.1% in April from 8.5% in March.

The latest snapshot of inflation could impact expectations regarding how aggressively the Federal Reserve plans to raise interest rates.