Metals prices stage retreat

Metals prices also dropped on the day Tuesday. Gold was down $15 to $555.20/$555.90 per troy ounce. This is around $20 below the 25-year high reached last week.

In other precious metals trade, silver was down to $9.36/$9.38 per troy ounce late in the day in London, while platinum dropped $12 on the day to $1,056/$1,060 per troy ounce.

Base metals prices were also down. Copper reached a new all-time high early in the day, but subsequently dropped to $4,960 on the London Metal Exchange. Aluminum was down 2.6 percent to $2,599 per tonne, also after an early rise. Lead dropped 4 percent, or $100, to $1,275 per tonne, and zinc fell over 4 percent to $2,290, down $130 dollars from its highest quote on Monday.