NEW YORK: Gold prices fell more than 1pc on Monday, as an elevated dollar and solidifying bets for an aggressive interest rate hike from the US Federal Reserve pushed the non-yielding bullion to its lowest in a week.
Spot gold fell 1.1% to $1,676.79 per ounce by 10:17 a.m. EDT (1417 GMT) while US gold futures slid 1.5% to $1,683.90.
Gold has now fallen for a fourth consecutive session, in potentially its worst run since mid-August.
Rising interest rates and a strong US dollar are continuing to pressure gold and are overwhelming any safe-haven demand currently arising from the latest escalation in the Ukraine crisis, said David Meger, director of metals trading at High Ridge Futures.
The dollar climbed to its highest since Sept. 29, making gold priced in the US currency more expensive for overseas buyers.
Fed fund futures are now pricing in a 92% chance of a 75-basis-point hike at the next Fed meeting. Higher interest rates increase the opportunity cost of holding zero-yield bullion.
“We’re back at $1,680 level again... and gold will remain under some downside pressure in the short term,” said Ross Norman, an independent analyst.
Investors now look to key US inflation data due later this week.
The Fed may still be able to lower inflation without a sharp rise in unemployment even as it continues raising interest rates, Chicago Fed president Charles Evans said on Monday, a rebuttal to arguments the US central bank is pushing the world and the United States towards a potentially sharp downturn.
Spot silver dropped 1.9% to $19.72 per ounce, and platinum fell 0.5% to $907.58. Palladium gained 3.3% to $2,253.37.
“Palladium is probably one of the most tightly supplied PGMs (platinum group metals)... and a good portion of that supply generally comes from Russia,” so a flare-up in the Ukraine crisis has lifted palladium, Meger said.
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