Gold hits 1-week low as dollar recovers before Fed meeting

BENGALURU, Nov 8 (Reuters) – Gold slid to a one-week low on Thursday as the dollar firmed in the wake of the U.S. midterm elections, with market participants now awaiting clues on the pace of interest rate hikes from the U.S. Federal Reserve. The metal is on track to post a fifth straight session of losses, hurt more broadly by a recovery in investor appetite for nominally higher-risk assets like stocks. Spot gold was down 0.3 percent at $1,222.11 per ounce at 1342 GMT, after touching its lowest since Nov. 1 at $1,221.10. U.S. gold futures fell 0.5 percent to $1,223.10 per ounce. The dollar’s recovery ahead of the Fed meeting is pressuring gold, ABN AMRO analyst Georgette Boele said, while technical factors are also weighing. “Speculators are not yet anticipating a recovery,” she said. “The longer-term trend is still negative as it is still under the 200-day moving average. If you break above that level, then you would see a speculative move into gold.” The dollar rose, pulling further away from the 2-1/2 week lows it hit on Wednesday, after the U.S. midterm elections delivered a broadly expected result, dampening gold’s appeal amongst holders of other currencies. With the elections producing no major surprises, analysts said the Federal Reserve should stick to its tightening path, further supporting the U.S. currency. The U.S. central bank’s Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), which is due to make a statement at 1900 GMT, is not expected to raise interest rates until its next gathering in December. However market participants are looking for clues about possible rate increases in December and in 2019. Gold, which offers no yield of its own, tends to fall out of favour among investors when interest rates rise. Indicative of the prevailing investment sentiment in gold, holdings in the world’s largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, SPDR Gold Trust, fell for a fourth straight session on Wednesday. “The exodus from gold ETFs speaks to the ebbing appeal of non-interest-bearing and anti-fiat assets in an environment where global interest rates are being pushed higher by the Fed’s commitment to tightening,” said Ilya Spivak, a currency strategist for DailyFX. In other precious metals, silver fell 1 percent to $14.42 per ounce. Palladium fell 1.5 percent to $1,117.10 per ounce. It touched a two-week high of $1,139.50 an ounce in the previous session. Platinum was down 0.3 percent at $869.70 an ounce, after hitting its highest since June 25 at $877.50 an ounce on Wednesday.