GOLD AT 5.5-YR LOW GLOBALLY

Mumbai: Gold slid more than one per cent on Friday to its lowest since early 2010

as fresh strength in the dollar prompted more selling.

London/Mumbai, July 24: Gold slid more than one per cent in the global market on Friday to its lowest since early 2010 as fresh strength in the dollar prompted another wave of selling, putting the metal on course for its biggest weekly loss in nine months.

In Mumbai, gold prices took a fresh knock and slumped back to close below the psychological `25,000-mark on speculative unwinding.

Standard gold (99.5 purity) plummeted by a whopping `445 to finish at `24,590 per 10 gm — its lowest level since 2011, compared to Thursday's close of `25,035. Pure gold (99.9 purity) also slumped by a similar margin to end at `24,740 per 10 grams from `25,185.

Prices have been under pressure since tumbling more than three per cent in Asian trading hours on Monday, their biggest oneday drop in nearly two years, in a selloff accompanied by heavy trading volumes in New York and Shanghai.

Spot gold hit a low of $1,077.00 an ounce on Friday and was down 0.7 percent at $1,083.25 US gold futures for August delivery

Rising nominal rates and disinflation have created the most bearish cocktail for gold in the past 43 years... We reiterate our view that gold prices are unlikely to rally into a Fed tightening cycle and now believe gold could dip below $1,000 an ounce by 2016.

— BANK OF AMERICA NOTE

were down $11.70 an ounce at $1,082.40.

Gold has been hurt this year by expectations that the US Federal Reserve is on track to raise interest rates for the first time in nearly a decade, boosting the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding bullion while lifting the dollar.

“It feels as though the driver in this market, aside from the impetus we got from China, is that if you get any kind of dollar strength, gold goes down,” Natixis analyst Nic Brown said. “But the flip side of that simply doesn’t support prices.” “Rising nominal rates and disinflation have created the most bearish cocktail for gold in the past 43 years,” Bank of America said in a note.