Gold futures contract declined on Tuesday as investors were concerned over the demand of the precious metal due to economic slowdown in China. BHP’s president Ian Ashby said on Tuesday in Perth that China’s demand for iron ore is decreasing which will eventually settle down to a single digit figure. The notion created a panic among investors putting pressure on the commodities across the board.

Analysts were of the opinion that indication of economic slowdown in China affects all the assets in the general due to which gold behaved more like a riskier asset instead of a safe haven asset.

Gold futures contract for April delivery declined 1.2 percent or $20.30 to settle at $1,647 per ounce on the Comex trading of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The gold also under selling pressure due to stronger greenback as the dollar index DXY which measures the US dollar’s performance versus its six major rival currencies gained to 79.582 on Tuesday as compared to 79.451 on Monday’s late trading hours.

Analysts were expecting that the gold is likely to find support at $1,630 per ounce and if it is crossed the next support level would be at $1,550 per ounce.

Further to add to the misery of the gold, India’s jeweler traders extended their nationwide strike for two more days on new excise duty of 1 percent by government on nonbranded jewelry. This is the first ever gold strike in India which happens to be one of the largest consumers of gold in the world.

Among other metals, silver futures contract for May delivery declined 3.4 percent or $1.12 to settle at 431.83 per ounce while copper for the same month delivery slipped 2 percent or $0.08 to $3.83 per pound.

Platinum futures contract for April delivery plunged 1.8 percent or $30.40 to settle at $1,654.30 per ounce while palladium futures for June delivery fell 1.5 percent or $10.55 to settle at $697.05 per ounce.