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CHICAGO, July 12 (Xinhua) -- Gold futures on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange fell sharply Tuesday on strength in U.S. equities, despite weaker data.
The most active gold contract for August delivery fell 21.30 U.S. dollars, or 1.57 percent, to settle at 1,335.30 dollars per ounce.
The precious metal was put under pressure as the U.S. Dow Jones Industrial Average rose by 124.37 points, or 0.68 percent as of 18:30 GMT. Analysts noted that when equities post losses, the precious metal usually goes up, as investors are looking for a safe haven, while the opposite is true when U.S. equities post gains.
Gold was prevented from falling further as the U.S. Department of Labor released a report showing job openings falling to 5.500 million during the month of May. Analysts noted that April's figures were revised to 5.845 million, which they also noted is the reading of this measure since February. The hiring rate is unchanged at 3.5 percent.
Traders are waiting for the Import and Export Prices report on Wednesday, the weekly jobless claims report and producer price index on Thursday, and the retail sales, consumer price index, and industrial production reports on Friday.
Silver for September delivery fell 13.30 cents, or 0.66 percent, to close at 20.171 dollars per ounce. Platinum for October delivery dropped 10.20 dollars, or 0.92 percent, to close at 1,097.90 dollars per ounce. Enditem
