Gold continues its losing streak for the sixth consecutive session, recording the lowest level in about seven months as the dollar continues to rise, while the prospects of raising US interest rates dimmed the luster of the yellow metal.
Gold in spot transactions fell 0.8% to 1835.40 dollars per ounce, which is its lowest level since the tenth of last March, and US gold futures fell 0.7% to 1853 dollars, and the dollar rose 0.4%, which makes gold less attractive to holders of other currencies.
Traders expect 55% that the Federal Reserve (the US central bank) will fix interest rates at the current range of 5.25% to 5.50% this year.
Since gold prices exceeded the level of two thousand dollars per ounce in early May, they have fallen by more than 11%, or 230 dollars, due to the sharp rise in US Treasury bond yields, which makes non-yielding gold less attractive.
The focus in the market is now shifting to the speech of Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell later in the day, as well as to jobs data, employment figures in the private sector and non-farm payrolls in the United States during the week.
Among other precious metals, silver in spot transactions fell 3.4% to the lowest level in more than six months at 21.40 dollars per ounce, platinum fell 1.3% to 893.12 dollars, and palladium fell 2.8% to 1210.54 dollars.
