Gold Climbs Off Worst Levels But Still Closes Lower

(RTTNews) - After moving notably lower early in the session, the price of gold regained some ground over the course of the trading day on Tuesday but still closed in the red.

Gold for May delivery fell $14.20 or 0.4 percent to $3,318.80 an ounce after tumbling as much as 1.0 percent to a low of $3,299.90 an ounce.

The price of gold moved back to the downside following yesterday's rebound after reports suggested the Trump administration will reduce auto tariffs on foreign parts to support domestic manufacturers.

"President Trump is building an important partnership with both the domestic automakers and our great American workers," Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said in a statement.

The revised approach may lower duties on foreign parts used in domestically produced cars while keeping tariffs on fully imported vehicles.

However, selling pressure waned following the release of a Conference Board report showing its U.S. consumer confidence index slumped by more than expected in the month of April.

The Conference Board said its consumer confidence index plunged to 86.0 in April from an upwardly revised 93.9 in March.

Economists had expected the consumer confidence index to tumble to 87.5 from the 92.9 originally reported for the previous month.

Stephanie Guichard, Senior Economist, Global Indicators at The Conference Board, noted the steep drop dragged the consumer confidence index down to levels not seen since the onset of the COVID pandemic.