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Gold ends below $1,300 for first time in September after Fed’s rate-hike hint

·         G old has fallen about one per cent to its lowest in nearly four weeks, shrugging off further weakness in the US dollar, after the Federal Reserve signalled it was on track to raise US interest rates again in December.

·         Spot gold was down 0.7 per cent at $US1,291.46 an ounce by 3.25 pm Thursday EDT (0525 Friday AEST), having earlier touched its lowest since late August 25 at $US1,287.61.

·         Gold prices dropped on Thursday, settling below $1,300 for the first time in September after the U.S. Federal Reserve hinted that interest rates will go up in December.

·         Gold for December delivery GCZ7, +0.03%  slid $21.60, or 1.6%, to settle at $1,294.80 an ounce—its lowest settlement since Aug. 24, according to FactSet data. The percentage decline was also the biggest for a single session since early July. The SPDR Gold Shares ETF GLD, -0.76%  shed 0.7%.

·         "It's follow through from yesterday ... I think the tone people are thinking about is that it's hawkish enough," said Rob Haworth, senior investment strategist at US Bank Wealth Management.

"If we start to get healthcare legislation, tax policy, repatriation, that means better economic growth and that's a headwind for gold, so investors may be thinking that this is a reasonable time to be taking profits as we price in a December rate increase."

·         US Vice President Mike Pence on Thursday urged fellow Republicans to get behind the party's "last best chance" to repeal and replace Obamacare as congressional leaders scrambled to secure enough support ahead of a planned vote next week.

·         Gold has pulled back more than $US60 an ounce since hitting its highest in more than a year earlier this month at $US1,357.54.

·         "The only hope for gold is if we see an unexpected fall in the dollar or a sharp rise in risk aversion, which would boost the appeal of the perceived safe haven commodity," said Fawad Razaqzada, technical analyst for Forex.com.

"Otherwise gold could fall back sharply given that it has also suffered major technical damage in not being able to hold its own above the key $US1,300 handle for too long."

·         In other metals trading, December silver SIZ7, +0.16%  also retreated by 31.6 cents, or 1.8%, to $17.018an ounce.

Reference: Business News, Market Watch