Gold hit a four-week low on Monday, extending a sell-off into a fourth straight session as technical signals deteriorated and investors fretted that the Federal Reserve would raise US interest rates this year. The metal failed to benefit from a fall in the dollar after downbeat Chinese factory surveys lent support to safe-haven currencies such as the yen. US and European stocks rose.
Spot gold fell to $1,132.35 an ounce, its lowest since October 5, in earlier trading and was down 0.6 percent at $1,135.551 at 2:31 pm EST (1931 GMT). It fell nearly 2 percent last week, its worst weekly performance in nine weeks. US gold futures for December delivery settled down 0.5 percent at $1,135.90 an ounce. In other precious metals, palladium took the biggest hit and dropped 4.5 percent to a five-week low of $642.97 an ounce. Spot platinum fell 0.7 percent to $975 an ounce, and silver was down 0.8 percent at $15.39.