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Gold for August delivery, the most actively traded contract, was recently down 0.7% at $1,178.10 a troy ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The dollar rebounded after several days of declines Thursday, as U.S. economic data showed retail sales in May increased in line with expectations. A stronger dollar tends to dent prices for gold, which is denominated in dollars and becomes more expensive for foreign buyers when the buck rises.

The Wall Street Journal Dollar Index, which gauges the dollar against 16 currencies, was recently up 0.5% to 86.50.

“Gold is being pushed around by a stronger dollar,” said Frank Lesh, a broker at Futurepath Trading.

In the longer term, “there is not much interest in gold at the moment. It just hasn’t been a very good performer, and other assets have been more rewarding,” Mr. Lesh said.

Expectations of rising interest rates have weighed on gold in recent months. Prices are down more than 4% from May highs, while assets in the world’s biggest gold exchange-traded fund, the SPDR Gold Trust, have dwindled to 704.22 metric tons, their lowest level since September 2008.

“As long as ETF outflows continue, the gold price is unlikely to make any significant gains,” analysts at Commerzbank said in a note.


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