Gold fell on Thursday, posting its worst quarterly performance in five quarters, as a stronger dollar and hawkish rhetoric from central banks eroded the allure of non-yielding assets.
Spot gold fell 0.6% to $1,807.11 an ounce, to record a decline of more than 6% in the second quarter, and down for the third month in a row, and US gold futures fell 0.5% to $1807.7.
The world’s top central bank chiefs, when they gathered at the European Central Bank’s annual conference in Portugal, said that bringing down soaring inflation around the world would be painful and might lead to a collapse in growth.
The dollar index is hovering near its last peaks in two decades, posting its best quarterly performance in more than five years, making gold at the US dollar price more expensive for overseas buyers, reducing gold’s appeal.
Eurozone inflation data is due out on Friday, and according to Commerzbank, it will be interesting “to see if the ECB will rethink its stance if inflation turns out to be higher than expected”.
