Investing.com - Gold prices were little changed near their lowest level in four weeks on Tuesday, as the latest U.S. economic data did little to dispel worries about growth.
Spot gold was trading at $1,289.35 per ounce by 8:45AM ET (12:45 GMT), after earlier touching its lowest since March 8 at $1,285.45.
Meanwhile, Comex gold futures were down 45 cents to $1,293.75 a troy ounce.
Orders for durable goods, which are meant to last at least three years or more, fell 1.6% in February, the Commerce Department said.
Orders for non-defense capital goods excluding aircraft, a closely watched proxy for business spending plans, dipped by 0.1% from a month earlier.
The report comes after data on Monday showed U.S. manufacturing numbers for March were better than expected, in contrast to weak retail sales figures for the previous month that were also released on Monday.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a basket of six major currencies, was at 96.93, after going as high as 97.04 earlier, its strongest since March 12.
Gold prices have come under some pressure as bond yields have rebounded. The 10-year Treasury yield was last at 2.47%, having dipped as low as 2.40% last week. The 3-month bill rate was at 2.42%. While long rates are now back above short ones, the small premium still reflects expectations of relatively modest growth for the foreseeable future.
In other metals trading, silver futures lost 15.6 cents, or about 1%, to trade at $14.94 a troy ounce.
Meanwhile, palladium futures added 0.6% to $1,400.00 an ounce, while platinum was flat at $855.35 an ounce.
-- Reuters contributed to this report