2018.05.2900:57:00UTC+00Gold Prices Steady After Two Sessions of Declines

Gold prices were steady on Tuesday after two consecutive sessions of declines, but a strong dollar continued to add pressure on the market amid revived hopes of a U.S.- North Korean summit.

Spot gold was relatively unchanged at $1,297.31 per ounce.

U.S. gold futures for June delivery dropped 0.5 percent to $1,296.90 per ounce.

The dollar, which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, was at 94.333 after notching a high of 94.496 on Monday, its strongest since Nov. 14, 2017.

Gold prices eased from the $1,307.80 level hit on Friday as the dollar strengthened and U.S. President Donald Trump revived hopes of a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, after pulling out of the meeting last week.

On Monday, Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe discussed North Korea by phone and confirmed they would meet before an expected U.S.-North Korea summit.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in said there could be more impromptu talks and summits with North Korea's Kim Jong Un.

China's net gold imports via main conduit Hong Kong declined 35.3 percent in April from the previous month as demand for bullion weakened, data showed.

Pan American Silver Corp became the latest company to curtail operations in Mexico due to rising violence and crime, saying on Monday it has faced security incidents along the roads used to transport personnel and materials to its Dolores mine.

In other precious metals, spot silver fell 0.1 percent to $16.45 an ounce. Platinum climbed 0.4 percent to $905 an ounce, while palladium dropped 0.4 percent to $983.40 an ounce.