Gold set for 5th weekly fall on dollar rally, rate hike fears

GOLD prices steadied on Friday (Jul 15), with bullion on course for a fifth straight weekly decline as a relentless surge in the dollar and fears of aggressive US interest rate hikes weighed on demand.

Spot gold inched up 0.1 per cent to US$1,711.26 per ounce by 1.16 am GMT. US gold futures firmed 0.1 per cent to US$1,708.00.

Gold prices are down 1.8 per cent this week.

The dollar was perched near 20-year highs, suppressing demand for greenback-priced bullion among buyers holding other currencies. A strong dollar sent gold down more than 2 per cent in the previous session.

However, the benchmark US 10-year Treasury yield edged lower, slightly buoying zero-yield gold.

Two of the Fed's most hawkish policymakers on Thursday said they favoured another 75-basis-point interest rate increase at the US central bank's policy meeting this month, not the bigger rate hike traders had raced to price in after a report Wednesday showed inflation was accelerating.

Higher interest rates raise the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding bullion.

SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, said its holdings fell 0.28 per cent to 1,016.89 tonnes on Thursday, from 1,019.79 tonnes on Wednesday.

Spot silver was flat at US$18.38 per ounce but has fallen about 4.8 per cent in what could be its seventh straight weekly loss.

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Platinum was little changed at US$843.33. It has dropped about 6 per cent this week, potentially its worst in at least 3 months.

Palladium firmed 0.4 per cent to US$1,903.67. It has lost about 12.8 per cent this week, the most since November. REUTERS