Gold futures remained under pressure of the third consecutive session on Tuesday as the Greece’s bailout package negotiations were postponed while the US dollar gained in reaction to week weak US retail sales data.

Gold futures contract for April delivery declined 0.4 percent or $7.20 to settle at $1,717.70 per ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The respective contract touched its intra-day high of $1,729.90.

One of the major reasons behind the decline of the precious metal was the strengthening of the US dollar as the ICE dollar index DXY which tracks the greenback’s movement versus its six major rivals surged to 79.485 on Tuesday as compared to 78.963 on Monday’s North American trading session.

Most of the analysts are of the opinion that the gold prices will trade within the range of $1,700 to $1,763 per ounce. Executive director, Mark O’Byrne from GoldCore commented, “Gold is displaying weakness and is struggling to break through resistance at $1,750 an ounce as traders hesitate to add to positions, however, significant macroeconomic and geopolitical risk and the appalling fiscal state of most major industrial nations means that gold will almost certainly eke out further gains in all currencies in the coming months.”

Among other metals, silver futures for March delivery fell 1.1 percent or $0.37 to $33.35 per ounce while copper for the same month declined $0.025 to $3.82 per pound. Platinum futures contract for April delivery plunged 1.3 percent or $21.70 to $1,628 per ounce while the March’s palladium contract declined 1.6 percent or $11.30 to $687.25 per ounce.