Gold Retreats from 18-Month High on Rising Dollar

Gold futures on the COMEX Division of the New York Mercantile Exchange fell from its 18-month high on Monday as dollar rebounded after declining for six sessions. Silver and platinum both ended a little lower, too.

Gold price for December delivery lost 5.30 U.S. dollars, or 0.5percent, to finish at 1001.10 dollars an ounce. In the overnight electric session, the contract dipped below the key level of 1,000dollars, touching as low as 994.40.

Dollar regained strength on the dispute between the U.S. and China ahead of the G-20 summit of rich and developing nations later this month in Pittsburgh.

During the past weekend, the U.S. president Obama decided to impose trade penalties on Chinese tires, but China announced it would examine imports of American auto and chicken products and filed a complaint with the World Trade Organization on Monday.

The dispute raised investors' concerns that the possibility of a trade war between the two biggest economies would be detrimental to the recovery of world economy.

Sparked by the safe-haven demand, the dollar index, a gauge for the greenback's performance against six major currencies, stood at76.699 by the end of gold floor trading time, hitting its intraday high of 77.085 in the early morning session. A strong dollar usually weighed on gold, for one of investors' purposes of purchasing the precious metal is to cover the risk of dollar's depreciation.

December silver finished at 16.623 dollars per ounce, down 7.7 cents. October platinum fell 1 dollar to 1319.70 dollars an ounce.