Gold prices fall

BENGALURU — Gold prices yesterday fell from eight-week highs hit in the previous session as the dollar recovered from lows and investors booked profits ahead of Donald Trump’s inauguration as US president later this week.

Spot gold fell 0,3 percent to $1 212,43 per ounce by 0706 GMT. Bullion hit an eight-week high of $1 218,64 in the previous session. US gold futures fell 0,1 percent to $1 212 per ounce.

“After a quick push higher right on the open, gold succumbed to some profit taking and producer selling throughout the morning,” MKS PAMP Group trader Alex Thorndike said.

“A slight reprieve for the greenback also helped to soften gold and silver.”

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies, rose 0,3 percent to 100,61. In the previous session, it hit a low of 100.26, its weakest since December 8, following Trump’s comments in the Wall Street Journal that the strong greenback was “killing us.”

“Once Trump takes office and there is some clarity (on his policies), the focus will come back to the fact Fed is going to hike rates a number of times this year.

“That would reduce the appeal of gold as an asset,” Jeffrey Halley, senior market analyst at brokerage OANDA in Singapore.

Several Fed officials have been making a case for a gradual hike in US interest rates. Fed Chair Janet Yellen will have an opportunity to lay out her thinking with speeches on monetary policy this week. — Reuters.