Gold hovers near 9-month low as dollar gains on looming rate hikes

By Arundhati Sarkar

(Reuters) - Gold neared a nine-month low on Monday, weakening after strong U.S. job market data last week boosted the likelihood of another super-sized interest rate hike by the Federal Reserve.

Spot gold was down 0.3% at $1,736.63 per ounce by 1108 GMT. U.S. gold futures dipped 0.5% to $1,734.00.

Losses in gold were, however, limited by growing pessimism over the state of some economies in Asia and geopolitical instability, Evangelista said, adding that bullion remains the go-to safe haven during times of trouble. [MKTS/GLOB]

Looking at the technical picture, next key levels for gold can be found at $1,721.50 and $1,700, Otunuga said.

Benefiting from the rate-hike bets, the dollar rose 0.6% to approach a 20-year peak hit in the previous session, dimming greenback-priced gold's appeal among overseas buyers. [USD/]

"Gold has stumbled into the new week struggling to nurse deep wounds inflicted by an appreciating dollar and rising Treasury yields," said Lukman Otunuga, senior market analyst at FXTM. [US/]

Rate hikes increase the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding bullion. A strong labour market is considered an indicator of a healthy economy and gives the central bank more ammunition for another big hike, analysts said.

Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic said on Friday he "fully" supports another 75-basis point rate hike at the Fed's next policy meeting later this month.

Central banks in Canada and New Zealand are also expected to tighten policy further this week. [NZ/INT] [CA/INT]

Losses in gold were, however, limited by growing pessimism over the state of some economies in Asia and geopolitical instability, Evangelista said, adding that bullion remains the go-to safe haven during times of trouble. [MKTS/GLOB]

Among other precious metals, spot silver fell 0.4% to $19.22 per ounce, platinum slipped 2.2% to $877.13 and palladium dropped 2.1% to $2,136.60.

 

(Reporting by Arundhati Sarkar in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips and Aditya Soni)