Mubasher: Gold prices declined on Tuesday, retreating from earlier highs and scoring its first loss in five sessions, as the US dollar strengthened against most of its peers.

By 8:02 pm GMT, gold futures dropped 0.33% to $1,221.30 per ounce, while spot gold fell 0.22% to $1,221.51 per ounce.

Losses for the yellow metal were driven by stronger greenback, with the US dollar index rising 0.69% to 96.8560.

The US currency found support as its major rivals the euro (EUR) and the UK pound (GBP) continued to struggle on the back of political issues.

Moreover, the strengthening dollar came as data showed that US housing starts jumped 1.5% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.228 million last October.

“The market could find itself simply consolidating last week’s gains this week,” Zaner Precious metals analysts said in a note Tuesday.

Gold futures settled on Monday at the highest level for a most-active contract since 7 November, according to FactSet data driven by geopolitical worries over the UK’s planned departure from the European Union (EU) and continued trade disputes between the US and China as well as volatile trade in equity markets.