• Gold has slumped 11 percent since April, as rising U.S. interest rates and the perception that trade wars will damage the United States less than other nations pushed the dollar higher.
• The U.S. dollar up nearly 0.5 percent against a basket of currencies, spot gold was down 0.3 percent at $1,211.81 an ounce by 1:53 p.m. EDT (1753 GMT) after falling to $1,210.80, the lowest since July 2017.
• "We are in territory - $1,200-$1,220 an ounce - where we should start to bottom out," said ABN AMRO analyst Georgette Boele.
• U.S. gold futures for December delivery settled down 0.6 percent at $1,220.10 an ounce.
• Momentum indicators suggest prices will continue to fall, according to analysts at ScotiaMocatta, and gold has not yet snapped a steep downtrend line from mid-June.
Adding to the pressure on bullion are expectations that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates again in September.
• Those expectations were bolstered on Wednesday by the Fed, which praised the strength of the U.S. economy, and forecast-beating employment data on Wednesday and Thursday.
• Gold could fall to $1,200 ahead of a September rate announcement, Natixis analyst Bernard Dahdah said.
But after that, tightening monetary policy elsewhere could begin to push the dollar lower and help gold recover to above $1,300 next year, he said.
• The Bank of England raised interest rates while the European Central Bank also intends to wind down its stimulus measures.
• In other precious metals, silver was up 0.03 percent at $15.35 an ounce.
Platinum rose 1.3 percent to $822.24 an ounce and palladium was 0.3 percent higher at $916.80 an ounce.
Reference: Reuters
Thai
Eng