• Gold slipped to its lowest in nearly seven weeks early on Monday as the U.S. dollar rose and equities gained, while growing expectations for a Federal Reserve interest rate hike in December also added to pressure.
Spot gold was down 0.3 percent at $1,274.90 an ounce by 0353 GMT, after earlier touching its lowest since mid-August at $1,273.55.
U.S. gold futures for December delivery shed 0.5 percent to $1,277.80.
• The metal recorded its biggest monthly decline so far this year in September, despite netting a quarterly rise of nearly 3 percent partly due to geopolitical tensions including North Korea’s missile tests.
• “The dollar is a bit stronger this morning and put gold under pressure first thing this morning so we took out Friday’s low. China’s out for Golden week so it’s just moving on the back of what the dollar yen’s doing,” a Hong Kong-based trader said.
“Gold might just keep drifting lower until the Chinese return. There’s nothing really to excite gold at the moment.”
• Spot gold may drop into a range of $1,261-$1,267 per ounce, as it has cleared a support at $1,277, Reuters technicals analyst Wang Tao said.
• Speculators reduced their net long positions in COMEX gold and silver contracts in the week to Sept. 26, U.S. data showed on Friday.
• Silver and palladium were little changed at $16.60 an ounce and $934.30 an ounce, while platinum lost 0.2 percent at 907.40 and continued to trade at a discount to platinum for a fourth consecutive day.
Reference: Reuters
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