However, Fischer used an interview on Bloomberg Television to insist that negative rates will not take root in USA, insisting that the Fed was not “planning to do anything in that direction”.
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The next key indicator is Friday’s jobs report for August, which is expected to show employers added 180,000 jobs in the month, according to the median estimate of 89 economists polled by Reuters.
The S&P 500 was down 0.62 points, or 0.03 per cent, at 2,179.76, while the Nasdaq Composite was up 1.66 points, or 0.03 per cent, at 5,233.99.
Fed Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer said Tuesday that incoming economic data will determine the trajectory of rate increases and expressed optimism that productivity growth will rebound, damping gold’s appeal as a haven.
The Dow Jones industrial average was last down 49.04 points, or 0.27%, at 18,453.95.
Five of the 10 major S&P 500 indexes were higher, led by a 0.56 per cent rise in the energy sector on the back of higher oil prices.
The US dollar traded mixed against other major currencies as investors were digesting the recent remarks by Federal Reserve Janet Yellen and newly-released economic data from the country.
The iPhone maker’s shares AAPL.O fell 0.9 percent, pushing the S&P 500 technology index .SPLRCT to its biggest decline in almost a week.
Data on Tuesday showed consumer confidence index unexpectedly rose to 101.1 in August.
Europe’s broad FTSEurofirst 300 index was last up 0.63%, at 1,358.88.
Investors were still awaiting more clues on whether the Fed will hike in September or December, including Friday’s US August non-farm payrolls data. The prospect for higher interest rates usually lifts the dollar, and this makes gold more expensive for holders of global currency to purchase.
Oil prices fell for a second straight day on the dollar’s strength and worries about crude oversupply.
Brent crude settled down 89 cents, or 1.81 percent, at $48.37 per barrel.
Market players are also looking ahead to Friday’s nonfarm payrolls report for further hints on the timing of the next US rate hike.
Ned Schmidt, editor of The Value View Gold Report, believes that gold is “likely approaching lows as dollar rally will definitely end with September meeting” because, he said, the Fed won’t likely raise rates at that time. Emerging-market nations have been adding less gold as the amount of cash they get from exports declined, said John Nugee, a manager of Bank of England reserves in the 1990s.
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Spot gold prices hit a six-week low of $1,311.65 on the strength in the dollar.
