2020.10.2018:55:00UTC+00Gold Futures Settle Higher Again

Gold prices moved higher on Tuesday and lifted the most active gold futures contract to a positive close for a second straight session.

The dollar's weakness and some short-covering contributed to the yellow metal's uptick.

The dollar index dropped to 93.00, falling nearly 0.5% from previous close.

Gold futures for December ended up $3.70 or about 0.2% at $1,915.40 an ounce.

Silver futures for December closed higher by $0.282 at $24.980 an ounce. Copper futures for December posted their highest close in two years, settling at $3.1480 per pound, up $0.0620 from previous close.

Data released by the Commerce Department showed building permits in the United States rose 5.2% from a month earlier to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.553 million in September of 2020, the highest level since March 2007. The rise was also above market expectations of 1.52 million.

Meanwhile, housing starts in the country rose 1.9% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.415 million units in September 2020, from a downwardly revised 1.388 million in the previous month. The rise in September was below market expectations of 1.457 million units.

On the stimulus front, Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Tuesday that she and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin are "on a path" to a massive coronavirus relief deal, just hours before her self-imposed deadline to come to a broad agreement with the White House.

Pelosi is scheduled to speak to Mnuchin later in the afternoon. It remains to be seen whether months of negotiations between the two will culminate in a massive stimulus plan with just a couple of weeks to go for the presidential election.