Gold futures on the COMEX Division of the New York Mercantile Exchange declined for the second day on Tuesday, as dollar continued gaining strength on investors' fading risk appetite. Silver and platinum both went down.

The most active gold contract for April delivery dropped 49.90, or 0.9 percent, to finish at $1,103.20.

Investors' confidence about the U.S. economy recovery weakened after a surprisingly sharp fall in February consumer confidence data.

The Conference Board reported that its Consumer Confidence Index fell 10.5 points to 46 in February, down from a revised 56.5 in January and well below analysts' expectations of a slight decrease to 55.

The dollar extended yesterday's gains as investors flocked to the greenback for safety. By the end of gold floor trading time, the dollar index climbed 0.36 to 80.945, sharply bouncing from the intraday low of 80.145 hit overnight. Strong dollar usually means weak gold for traders purchase the precious metal as assets against dollar's depreciation.

March silver was down 33.4 cents to 15.888 dollars per ounce. April platinum lost 21.60 dollars to 1,510.30 dollars an ounce.

(Xinhua News Agency Februray 24, 2010)