Gold hovered near its lowest in over three months on Wednesday, hurt by consecutive losses in the last seven sessions as a robust dollar and expectations of higher US interest rates curbed appetite for the metal. Spot gold had ticked up slightly to $1,164.05 an ounce by 0740 GMT, after dropping 4 percent in the seven sessions to Tuesday. The metal slumped to $1,155.60 in the previous session, its lowest since December 1.
Bullion has taken a hit from stronger-than-expected US nonfarm payrolls data on Friday that renewed expectations the Federal Reserve would begin to increase interest rates in June. Higher rates could dent demand for assets that do not pay interest such as gold, and boost the dollar, which was trading at its highest in over 11 years against a basket of major currencies. "The possibility of further dollar gains is weighing on gold but Asian demand is emerging and may lend support for prices," said HSBC analyst James Steel.
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