Gold futures settled higher on Tuesday, with analysts attributing the modest climb to a technical bounce a day after prices for the metal snapped a seven-session streak of declines.

December gold GCZ5, -0.04% added 40 cents to settle at $1,088.50 an ounce on Comex, after seesawing between modest losses and gains early on in the session.

But prices continue to trade a few dollars away from lowest settlement level in more than 5 years. Tracking the most-active contracts, a settlement below $1,085.50 would be the worst since early 2010.

Higher interest rates could diminish the appeal of gold, which doesn’t offer interest, and may buoy the U.S. dollar, with a stronger greenback often bearish for dollar-denominated gold prices.

Other metals on Comex settled lower, with the exception of December palladium which inched up by 85 cents, or 0.1%, to $597.80 an ounce after losing 2.6% on Monday. January platinum fell $14.90, or 1.6%, to $899.50 an ounce.

December silver declined by 5.7 cents, or 0.4%, to $14.356 an ounce and December copper finished at $2.218 a pound, down 1.3 cents, or 0.6%.

Source: MarketWatch