2020.01.2818:32:00UTC+00Gold Futures Settle Lower

Gold prices edged lower on Tuesday, after hitting a more than 6-year high in the previous session, as the focus shifted to the upcoming Federal Reserve's monetary policy statement, due on Wednesday.

Gold prices had surged higher on Monday on safe-haven appeal, amid mounting concerns about the potential impact of the coronavirus spread on the global economy.

However, with equities bouncing back well and scoring gains today, buoyed by a batch of encouraging economic data, gold prices retreated from six-year highs.

A steady dollar too contributed to gold's weakness. The dollar index, which advanced to 98.16 a little before noon, was last seen at 98.05, up 0.1% from previous close.

Gold futures for February ended down $7.60, or about 0.5%, at $1,569.80 an ounce, after easing to a low of $1,566.10 around noon.

On Monday, gold futures for February ended up $5.50, or about 0.4%, at $1,577.40 an ounce, the highest settlement since early April 2013.

Silver futures for March ended down $0.598 at $17.458 an ounce, while Copper futures for March settled at $2.5795 per pound, down $0.0170 from previous close.

In economic news, new orders for U.S. manufactured durable goods rebounded by much more than anticipated in the month of December, according to a report released by the Commerce Department.

The report said durable goods orders surged up by 2.4% in December after tumbling by a revised 3.1% in November.

Economists had expected durable goods orders to rise by 0.5% compared to the 2.1% slump that had been reported for the previous month.

According to a report released by the Conference Board, consumer confidence in the U.S. showed a notable improvement in the month of January, withe index climbing to 131.6 in the month, from an upwardly revised 128.2 in December.

Economists had expected the consumer confidence index to rise to 127.8 from the 126.5 originally reported for the previous month.