Correction for (NXG) (NEM) (AUY) (HMY) (KGC) as Gold Prices Fall

Shares of gold miners like Northgate Minerals (AMEX:NXG), Newmont Mining (NYSE:NEM), Yamana Gold (NYSE:AUY), Harmony Gold Mining (NYSE:HMY) and Kinross Gold Corp (NYSE:KGC) were suffering Tuesday as the price of gold dropped on the session, as the U.S. dollar gained a little.

Gold for June delivery fell $16.70 to $1,540.40 an ounce at the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The gold price traded in a range as high as $1,551.40 and as low as $1,516.20. The spot gold price fell over $15 for the day.

A temporarily stronger U.S. dollar put some pressure on gold and silver prices Tuesday, as the U.S. dollar index climbed 0.04 percent to $73.09.

Also surprising the market was the decision by India to boost their interest rates by 50 basis points to fight inflation. That puts the lending rate their at 8.89 percent, and the overnight lending rate at 7.25 percent.

Silver fell another $3.49 Tuesday to settle at $42.576 per troy ounce on the Comex division of the Nymex.

Most of pressure on silver prices has come from the CME Group decision to raise margin requirements by 11.6 percent, starting at the close of market on Tuesday.

Gold looks like it's just taking a needed breather before resuming its upward run.

Gold stocks have been overall lagging the price of gold, and that should change assuming the costs of inputs remain lower than the push up in gold prices.

A growing number of gold miners are increasing dividends to attract investors.

Harmony Gold Mining (HMY) closed at $14.57, falling $0.62, or 4.08 percent.