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Gold dropped for a seventh straight day, heading for the longest run of declines since May, as comments from leading central bankers boosted speculation that U.S. interest rates may rise as soon as next month, buoying the dollar.

Bullion for immediate delivery lost as much as 0.4 percent to $1,316.09 an ounce, the lowest since July 27, and traded at $1,317.59 at 9:02 a.m. in Singapore, according to Bloomberg generic pricing. The metal lost 1.5 percent last week.

Gold’s rally this year has been pegged back as a September rate hike is now in the cards after Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said on Friday that the case for tightening had strengthened, while her deputy, Stanley Fischer, said an increase at the Sept. 20-21 meeting was possible. On Saturday, Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda reiterated a pledge to ease policy further if necessary, potentially hurting the yen.

"We think the pressure on gold will likely increase as we go into September, as articipants are now more willing to bet on a rate hike given what they have gleaned from top Fed officials on Friday," INTL FCStone analyst Edward Meir said in a note.

"I think gold prices will still see support at about $1,300 despite what has been said in the Jackson Hole (Fed) symposium. It is of no doubt that the rate hike expectations have gone up for the year ahead," said OCBC Bank analyst Barnabas Gan. Given the fact that the U.S. presidential election is due and the full blown consequences of Britain's vote to leave the European Union remain to be seen, there is still some risk-aversion in global markets and gold should pick up to $1,350 by year-end, Gan added.

Reference: Bloomberg, Reuters