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Gold fell on Monday to its lowest in nearly two weeks as the dollar strengthened after comments from U.S. Federal Reserve officials increased bets on a U.S. rate hike this year.

Speculators again decreased their bullish positions in COMEX gold and silver contracts in the week to Aug. 16.

The dollar strengthened versus all of its major peers, while Asian stocks and commodities retreated as hawkish comments from a Federal Reserve official boosted the likelihood of a U.S. interest-rate rise this year.

Bloomberg’s dollar index rose to a one-week high after Fed Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer said Sunday the U.S. economy is already close to meeting the central bank’s goals and that growth will pick up. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index of shares dropped to a two-week low and futures foreshadowed losses in U.S. and U.K. equities. Japanese stocks advanced after Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda flagged the possibility that the authority’s unprecedented monetary stimulus will be added to in September. Oil fell to about $48 a barrel and silver led losses among precious metals.

Global markets have been buffeted over the past week by comments from Fed officials flagging the possibility of higher borrowing costs as early as next month, even though minutes of the central bank’s last meeting struck a more dovish tone. The focus will shift to Janet Yellen’s speech this week at a gathering of global central bankers in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Futures traders on Friday assigned a 22 percent probability to a September rate increase by the Fed, up from 16 percent a week earlier.

Bloomberg’s Dollar Spot Index rose 0.5 percent as of 1:11 p.m. Tokyo time, after losing ground in each of the last two weeks. South Korea’s won fell 0.9 percent versus the greenback and New Zealand’s dollar lost 0.8 percent, the biggest declines among 16 major currencies.

Silver dropped as much as 3 percent to a seven-week low, while gold was down 0.5 percent amid the dollar’s advance. Silver has rallied 37 percent this year while gold jumped 26 percent as the Fed refrained from tightening and other central banks embraced negative rates, benefiting bullion which doesn’t pay interest.

Reference: Bloomberg, Reuters