Gold fell for a second day on Tuesday
Gold fell for a second day on Tuesday due to a steadier dollar after having hit record highs on Monday, additionally the upgrade of the Japanese nuclear crisis forced investors to safe haven bets.
Large holders decided to take profits on positions in crude oil, copper, platinum and some agricultural commodities which put downward pressure on the raw materials sector, including gold and of course the market followed.
The correlations between gold and the dollar index and gold and the Standard & Poor's 500 index reached their most negative in nearly three months, meaning any rise in the U.S. currency will affect the spot gold price considerably.
Spot gold was down 0.4 % at $1,461.45 an ounce after falling earlier by 0.9 % to a session low of $1,453.31. On Monday, gold hit a record at $1,476.21. U.S. gold futures for June fell 0.4 % to $1,463.00.
The gold/silver ratio fell to its lowest since at least 1989 on Tuesday again showing silver's recent outperformance to gold.
Silver rose by 1 % to $40.60 an ounce, having fallen on Monday by over 1.6 % after a sell off in industrial metals. Silver is off almost 4 % from Monday's 31-year high at $41.93.
Platinum was up 0.3 % at $1,784.74 an ounce, partially paring some of Monday's 1.7 % loss, while palladium was flat at $781.97.
