Investing.com - Gold prices came off the lowest levels of the session on Tuesday, after data showed that retail sales in the U.S. rose less than expected last month.
On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for June delivery touched an intraday low of $1,183.70 a troy ounce, the weakest level since April 1, before trading at $1,190.30 during U.S. morning hours, down $9.00, or 0.75%.
A day earlier, gold declined $5.30, or 0.44%, to close at $1,199.30. Futures were likely to find support at $1,180.50, the low from April 1, and resistance at $1,224.50, the high from April 6.
The U.S. Commerce Department said that retail sales increased by 0.9% in March, disappointing expectations for a gain of 1.0%. Core retail sales, which exclude automobile sales, rose by 0.4% in March, missing forecasts for a 0.6% increase.
A separate report showed that producer prices rose by 0.2% last month, in line with forecasts, while the core producer price index eased up 0.2% last month, compared to forecasts for a gain of 0.1%.
The disappointing data sparked fresh concerns over the strength of the economy, fuelling uncertainty over the timing of a rate hike.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was down 0.25% to trade at 99.49 early on Tuesday.
Elsewhere on the Comex, silver futures for May delivery fell 19.1 cents, or 1.17%, to trade at $16.10 a troy ounce, while copper for May delivery dipped 3.4 cents, or 1.26%, to trade at $2.685 a pound.
Copper traders looked ahead to the release of first-quarter gross domestic product figures out of China on Wednesday.
The data is expected to show the world's second largest economy grew 7.0%, slowing from 7.3% in the preceding quarter. Beijing has set a growth target of "around 7.0%" in 2015 after the economy grew 7.4% in 2014, the slowest pace in 24 years.
The Asian nation is the world’s largest copper consumer, accounting for almost 40% of world consumption last year.