December gold futures are expected to open floor trading in New York around $2 an ounce lower Tuesday, based on electronic activity ahead of the pit session at the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. December silver is expected to be down 5 cents. Spot gold was near steady in overseas trading as consumer buying offset pressure from a rebounding dollar, London-based analysts said. At 7:52 a.m. EDT, spot gold was trading up 30 cents to $990.20. In other markets that have the potential to impact metals in the short term, the euro is down to $1.4558 from $1.4606 late Monday afternoon. In screen trading ahead of the pit open, the December S&P 500 futures are down 1.20 points to 1,057.80. October crude oil is down 32 cents to $66.52 a barrel in overnight activity. On the U.S. economic front, the Case-Shiller Home Price Index is scheduled for release at 9 a.m. EDT (1300 GMT). The Conference Board's September consumer-confidence index is due out at 10 a.m. EDT (1400 GMT), with the headline reading forecast to rise to 57 from 54.1 in August. In New York Monday, gold futures finished slightly higher on marginal support from other commodities and equities, but trading in the metal was light. December gold rose $2.50 to settle at $994.10 an ounce, December silver rose 13.5 cents to $16.195 an ounce. Comex gold warehouse stocks were down 208 ounces at 9,294,628 ounces Monday, while silver stocks were up 220,052 ounces at 114,982,410 ounces.

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