Investing.com - Gold futures ticked down on Tuesday, as a stronger U.S. dollar and a rally in global stock markets dampened demand for the yellow metal.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, rose 0.1% to 99.26.
Meanwhile, global equity markets rallied as slowing growth in China raised hopes for further stimulus for the world’s second largest economy.
Gold for February delivery on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange shed $5.20, or 0.48%, to trade at $1,085.50 a troy ounce by 14:45GMT, or 9:45AM ET.
Also on the Comex, silver futures for March delivery tacked on 12.9 cents, or 0.93%, to trade at $14.02 a troy ounce during morning hours in New York.
Elsewhere in metals trading, copper prices jumped to a more than one-week high on Tuesday, after China's quarterly economic growth met expectations, calming fears over a deeper than expected slowdown.
Official data released earlier showed that China’s economy grew 6.8% in the fourth quarter from a year earlier, the weakest pace of growth since the first quarter of 2009. That was in line with market expectations and down from growth of 6.9% in the previous three months.
Full-year growth was 6.9%, the slowest pace of expansion in a quarter of a century but roughly in line with the government's growth target of around 7%.
A separate report showed that industrial production rose by an annualized rate of 5.9% in December, below expectations for a 6.0% increase and following a gain of 6.2% in the preceding month.
Data on fixed asset investment and retail sales also missed forecasts, reinforcing views that Beijing will roll out further support measures soon for the world's second largest economy.
The Asian nation is the world’s largest copper consumer, accounting for nearly 45% of world consumption.