CHICAGO, Dec. 20 (Xinhua) -- Gold futures on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange fell on Wednesday as the U.S. dollar strengthened.

       The most active gold contract for February delivery fell 4.40 U.S. dollars, or 0.21 percent, to close at 2,047.70 dollars per ounce.

       In comments to the Harvard Business School Club of Atlanta on Tuesday, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta President Raphael Bostic said that there is no "urgency" for the Federal Reserve to reduce U.S. interest rates given the strength of the economy.

       Inflation "is going to come down relatively slowly in the next six months, which means that there's not going to be urgency for us to start to pull off of our restrictive stance," Bostic said.

       Economic data released on Wednesday also dampened gold. The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index increased in December to 110.7, up from a downwardly revised 101.0 in November.

       The National Association of Realtors reported that U.S. existing home sales rose 0.8 percent in November from the prior month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.82 million.

       Investors are awaiting the release the gross domestic product report due out on Thursday, and the November core personal consumption expenditure (PCE) price index, the Federal Reserve's preferred measure of inflation gauge, due on Friday

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       Silver for March delivery rose 31.00 cents, or 1.27 percent, to close at 24.631 dollars per ounce. Platinum for January delivery rose 8.20 dollars, or 0.85 percent, to close at 974.00 dollars per ounce.