Gold futures ended a tad lower on COMEX on Wednesday as the dollar's sharp rise against the euro tempered bullion's status as a hedge against the falling U. S. currency. However, it ended slightly positive on MCX owing to the fall in rupee against the dollar.

Silver futures settled in a positive territory following the rise in other industrial metals. It gained 0.12 and 0.21 percent respectively on MCX and COMEX respectively.

On the supply side, the Russian Gold Industrialists' Union reported a 21 percent rise in gold output from Russia, the world's fifth largest producer of the yellow metal, in the first seven months of the year.

The world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, the SPDR Gold Trust, said holdings stood at 1,061.83 tonnes as of Aug. 26, unchanged from the previous business day.

The world's No. 2 platinum producer, Implats Platinum, said more than 20,000 workers were involved in the strike, ignoring a weekend call from the National Union of Mineworkers to suspend the action.

India gold traders continued to stay away from striking fresh deals on Wednesday expecting a fall in prices, dealers said.

The U. S. dollar rose as news that China would act to restrict redundant investments underscored concerns about a global recovery and tempered the positive impact of data showing a jump in new U. S. home sales.

The focus for the day would be on Q2 GDP and jobless claims numbers from the U. S. We witnessed an improvement in Q2 GDP numbers in euro zone released last week. Any improvement seen in these numbers may further strengthened dollar, thereby mildly pressurizing gold prices. Silver is likely to follow the trend in industrial metals which it has been doing lately.