Gold prices fell to a three-week low on Friday, as the dollar’s rise and expectations of a US Federal Reserve raising interest rates dented the yellow metal’s attractiveness.
By 04:51 GMT, spot gold fell 0.3 percent to $1,752.89 an ounce, following falling to its lowest since July 28 at $1,751.01 earlier in the session. During the week, the precious metal fell 2.7 percent, and is heading to record its first weekly decline in five weeks.
US gold futures fell 0.3 percent to $1,766.20.
“Markets are expecting interest rates to rise further and of course a strong dollar is affecting gold prices at the moment,” said Brian Lane, managing director at Gold Silver Central.
The dollar rose to a one-month high once morest rival currencies, making gold more expensive for buyers of other currencies.
Several US Federal Reserve officials said Thursday that the central bank needs to continue raising borrowing costs to control high inflation.
Gold is strongly affected by the rise in US interest rates, which leads to an increase in the opportunity cost of owning the yellow metal, which does not yield a return.
Among other precious metals, spot silver fell 0.9 percent to $ 19.35 an ounce and is heading to record the largest weekly percentage decline since late January.
Platinum fell 0.4 percent to $907.84 an ounce, and palladium fell 0.3 percent to $2149.35.
(Archyde.com)
