NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Gold futures fell early on Tuesday, with dollar strength continuing to weigh on the precious metal, while traders sought support levels after gold's failure to hold above the $1,000 an ounce mark.
Gold for December delivery was recently down $2.40, or 0.2%, at $991.70 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. It earlier fell to an intraday low of $986.10 an ounce and rose to a high of $995.
"The erratic nature of the dollar, at the moment, means that gold may still have its direction dictated by dollar volatility and traders may exploit this and push the limits of gold support in the short term, looking for favorable entry points," said analysts at GoldCore in a note.
The dollar gained ground versus major rivals, gaining versus the Japanese currency after the nation's finance minister hinted at the possibility of intervention to arrest the yen's rise.
The dollar index (DXY 77.13, +0.08, +0.10%) , which measures the U.S. unit against a basket of six major currencies, stood at 77.160, up from 76.904 late Monday. See Currencies.
A weak start for stocks on Wall Street also supported strength for the dollar, which has served as a safe-haven asset, competing with gold at times. After a big rally on Monday, the S&P 500 (SPX 1,063, +0.18, +0.02%) rose 2 points, or 0.2%, to 1,065.
Earlier, Standard & Poor's said the market value of U.S. homes in 20 major cities, rose by 1.6% in July compared with June, the third monthly increase in a row. S&P's Case-Shiller home price index still showed prices remain down 13.3% over the past year in the 20 U.S. cities surveyed.
SPDR Gold Trust (GLD 97.11, +0.06, +0.06%) , the biggest gold ETF, was up 0.3%.
Among other metals, December silver fell 2 cents, or 0.1%, to $16.18 an ounce, and October platinum fell $9.80, or 0.8%, to $1,276.20 an ounce. December palladium fell 90 cents, or 0.3%, to $293.00 an ounce.
December copper also fell, off 1 cent, or 0.3%, to $2.72 a pound.
