2023.05.2418:12:00UTC+00Gold Futures Settle Lower Again

Gold futures settled lower on Wednesday, extending losses to a third straight session, as the dollar climbed higher on expectations of another interest rate hike by the Federal Reserve.

The dollar index climbed to 103.91 a little past noon, gaining about 0.4%.

Gold futures for June ended lower by $9.90 or about 0.5% at $1,964.60 an ounce, the lowest close in about a week.

Silver futures for July ended down $0.384 at $23.240 an ounce, while Copper futures for July settled at $3.5615 per pound, down $0.0930 from the previous close.

Concerns about lawmakers' ability to reach an agreement on increasing the U.S. debt ceiling weighed on the financial markets.

While negotiations have continued this week, traders remain worried about reports suggesting a lack of progress towards a deal.

"Talks were always going to go down to the wire and an 11th hour deal is still expected to be made," said Edward Moya, senior market analyst at OANDA. "What could be making some investors nervous is that some House Republicans might not be convinced that the X-date of June 1st is accurate or that a default would be the end of the world."

He added, "If the actual X-date ends up being closer to June 7th, that means we could see market stress build up leading to that point."