Gold futures suffer a 6th straight session decline

Gold futures settled lower for a sixth straight session on Monday, the lowest finish in nearly six weeks. A turn lower for U.S. benchmark stock indexes, which had seen earlier support from optimism over a potential U.S.-China trade deal, failed to boost haven demand for the precious metal. The decline for U.S. stocks appeared to follow data showing U.S. construction spending dropped 0.6% in December, said Colin Cieszynski, chief market strategist at SIA Wealth Management. "This number with other recent signs of weakness like last week's retail sales figure appears to have spooked investors....Since this is more related to the U.S. domestic economy and not political or market tensions, gold hasn't attracted renewed interest," said Cieszynski. April gold lost $11.70, or 0.9%, to settle at $1,287.50 an ounce.

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