CHICAGO, March 29 (Xinhua) -- Gold futures on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange fell marginally on Thursday amid a firmer U.S. dollar and rising equities.
The most active gold contract for June delivery fell 2.7 U.S. dollars, or 0.20 percent, to settle at 1,327.30 dollars per ounce.
The U.S. dollar index, a gauge of the dollar against a basket of other major currencies, rose 0.05 percent to 90.10 as of 1628 GMT, following a sharp rally in the previous day which was fueled by the officially revised annual gross domestic product growth from 2.5 percent to 2.9 percent in the final quarter of 2017.
Meanwhile, the Dow Jones Industrial Average kept its recovery, rising 246.27 points, or 1.03 percent to 24,094.69 as of 1639 GMT.
Gold usually moves in opposite directions with the dollar and equities, which means if the dollar and stocks go up, gold futures will fall as gold, priced in U.S. dollar, becomes more expensive for investors using other currencies and stock markets will lure inflow of investments.
However, some geopolitical factors continued to underpin the safe-haven gold.
Russia has announced expulsion of 60 U.S. diplomats and closure of the U.S. consulate in St. Petersburg in a tit-for-tat move over the poisoning of a former Russian spy in Britain. Moscow has strongly denied responsibility for the incident.
As for other precious metals, silver for May delivery went up 1.5 cents, or 0.09 percent, to settle at 16.268 dollars per ounce. Platinum for July fell 8.20 dollars, or 0.87 percent, to close at 932.60 dollars per ounce. Enditem
