2018-11-08
Gold prices fell to their lowest level in a week on Thursday as the dollar and equities gained as investors digested the US midterm elections to shift their focus to the Federal Reserve's monetary policy decision on Thursday.
 
The Fed is not expected to raise interest rates until its next meeting in December, but traders are waiting to see if it will provide evidence of possible increases in December and 2019.
 
"The December interest rate increase is fully absorbed, but the outlook for next year is still uncertain," said Elia Spivak, exchange analyst at DiliFX.
 
"The confident tone will likely press gold, but the wary may give it some support."
 
The Federal Reserve raised interest rates in September and plans four further increases by the end of 2019 and one in 2020 in light of what it says is steady economic growth and a strong job market.
 
The US interest rate hike is boosting the dollar and raising bond yields while deterring the lure of non-yielding gold.
 
At 0710 GMT, spot gold was down 0.3 percent at $ 1222.31 an ounce after hitting its lowest since November 1 at $ 1221.1 earlier in the session.
 
US gold futures fell 0.2 percent to $ 1226.3 an ounce.
 
Silver fell 0.5 percent in spot trade to $ 14.50 an ounce.
 
Palladium fell 0.5 percent to $ 1127.55 an ounce. The metal touched a two-week high of $ 1139.50 an ounce in the previous session.
 
Platinum fell 0.2 percent to $ 870.60 a troy ounce after hitting its highest since June 25 at $ 877.50 an ounce on Wednesday