Gold futures on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange fell on Wednesday, as European concerns returned to trading while negativity in outside equities markets put pressure on the metals complex.

The most active gold contract for June delivery lost 11.5 U.S. dollars, or 0.7 percent, to settle at 1,639.6 dollars per ounce.

Market analysts said gold settled at its lowest level since April 5 Wednesday, as a sharp reverse from Tuesday's strong rallies in the equity and energy markets set a bearish tone to outside market forces.

The U.S. stock market pulled back on Wednesday morning, as quarterly profit releases from tech companies Intel and IBM failed to satisfy trader expectations and sent the Dow Jones Industrial Average down around 100 points from the opening.

Meanwhile, the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) dollar index rose in trading, while crude oil was down more than 1.5 percent in the afternoon.

Furthermore, minutes from the Bank of England's April meeting showed that the UK central bank was increasingly backing away from another round of quantitative easing monetary policy.

This could have been seen as an additional source of pressure for the gold market, as the precious metal is traditionally seen as a safe haven in times of economic downturn. The Bank of England seemed to indicate their belief in a continued economic recovery, and in a separate report unemployment in the UK was revealed to have decreased to 8.3 percent.

Gold futures have declined 13 of the last 20 days. Traders said rather than having a commanding market direction currently, gold seemed to be going along with the general sentiment in U.S. equities and crude oil.

Silver also fell in trading Wednesday. Silver for May delivery declined 18.7 cents, or 0.59 percent, to close at 31.487 dollars per ounce. July platinum lost 5.5 dollars, or 0.35 percent, to settle at 1,579.2 dollars per ounce.