Gold Prices Slump as Spain Shrugs (Update 1)

Updated from 10:43 a.m. EDT with settlement prices

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Gold prices dropped on Tuesday as questions remained as to whether Spain would request financial aid.

Gold for December delivery lost $10.70 to close at $1,765 an ounce at the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The gold price traded as high as $1,781.60 and as low as $1,762 an ounce, while the spot price was off $9.30.

"It's got some global growth concerns ... Spain hasn't requested any sort of bailout yet, so that has the bearish tilt on the euro currency, again strength in the dollar puts pressure on the metals," said Phil Streible, senior commodities broker at RJO Futures.

Silver prices for December delivery shed 3 cents to settle at $33.99 an ounce, while the U.S. dollar index was adding 0.54% to $80.03.

Streible said that investors likely are reassessing their positions in precious metals after having caught such a nice rally after the Federal Reserve's latest asset-backed purchasing program, known as quantitative easing.

After a two-day meeting of eurozone finance ministers, Spain's bailout plans continued to remain uncertain, and rioting in the country and in Greece reminded markets of the troubles that remain across Europe.

The euro dropped for a second day this week against the greenback falling to $1.2869 against the prior day's close of $1.2969. The euro has dropped 1 cent in a day.

Friday's better-than-expected 7.8% unemployment rate in the U.S. continued to leave buyers of the yellow metal in doubt as to how long the Fed's open-ended easing program would last. Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke had said last month that so-called QE3 would continue until the labor market showed significant improvements for a sustained period.

Gold mining stocks were mostly lower Tuesday. Shares of AngloGold Ashanti (AU) were adding 0.18%, while Eldorado Gold (EGO) shares were falling 2.4%.

Among other mining stocks, Kinross Gold (KGC) was dipping 1.7%, and Yamana Gold (AUY) was shedding 1.6%.

Gold ETFs SPDR Gold Trust (GLD) and iShares Gold Trust (IAU) were down 0.52% and 0.54%, respectively.

-- Written by Joe Deaux in New York.

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