Gold pares weekly decline as bets for September rate hike drop

[SINGAPORE] Gold rose to trim a weekly decline as traders scaled back odds for a US interest rate increase at next week's Federal Reserve meeting.

Bullion for immediate delivery advanced 0.2 per cent to US$1,317.65 an ounce at 8:40am in Singapore, according to Bloomberg generic pricing. The metal touched US$1,309.40 on Thursday, the lowest intraday level since Sept 2, and is down 0.8 per cent this week. Markets in mainland China, Taiwan, Malaysia, South Korea and Hong Kong are closed for holidays on Friday.

Gold's rally in the first half of this year has sputtered as investors weigh a potential increase in US borrowing costs, which would damp the appeal of bullion.

Data released Thursday showed declines in retail sales and US factory output, cooling speculation that the Fed may tighten at its Sept 20-21 meeting. The probability of a hike dropped to 18 per cent from 22 per cent at the beginning of the week, futures prices indicate.

"Though down on the week, gold prices have lifted today, with a slew of disappointing data out of the US overnight has all but ruled out any pre-election rate hike moves from the Fed," Jordan Eliseo, chief economist at Australian Bullion Co, said in an e-mail.

BLOOMBERG