15.03.202218:12:00UTC+00Gold Futures Settle Lower For 3rd Straight Day

Gold prices drifted lower on Tuesday, extending losses to a third straight session, amid a surge in U.S. Treasury yields ahead of the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement, due on Wednesday.

The Federal Reserve is widely expected to raise its benchmark interest rate target range by a quarter of a percentage point when it announces its interest-rate decision on Wednesday.

In geopolitical news, the prime ministers of Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovenia are scheduled to meet with Ukraine's president Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv at 18:00 GMT, according to reports.

The dollar, which eased in the Asian session, stayed weak till about noon before edging up marginally. The dollar index is hovering around 99.10, up 0.1% from the previous close. The index touched a low of 98.64 in the Asian session.

Gold futures for April ended down by $31.10 or about 1.6% at $1,929.70 an ounce, the lowest settlement in nearly two weeks.

Silver futures for May ended lower by $0.140 at $25.158 an ounce, while the Copper futures for May settled at $4.5130 per pound, down $0.0100 from the previous close.

In economic news, a report from the Labor Department showed producer prices increased by slightly less than expected in the month of February.

The report said the producer price index for final demand climbed by 0.8% in February after surging by an upwardly revised 1.2% in January. Economists had expected producer prices to advance by 0.9% compared to the 1% jump originally reported for the previous month.

Excluding prices for food, energy and trade services, core producer prices edged up by 0.2% in February following a 0.8% increase in January.