• Gold has fallen for the sixth straight session reaching a five-week low, with analysts expecting further losses as investors become increasingly certain that US interest rate will rise this month.
• Gold futures on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange fell on Thursday as traders prepared for an anticipated Federal Reserve rate hike despite U.S. dollar and U.S. data weakness.
• Spot gold was down 0.5 per cent at $US1,202.11 an ounce by 3:01 pm Thursday EST (0701 Friday AEDT) after dropping to $US1,201.02, its weakest since February 1. The most active gold contract for April delivery fell 6.2 U.S. dollars, or 0.51 percent, to settle at 1,203.20 dollars per ounce.
• According to the CME Group's Fedwatch tool, the current implied probability of a hike from 0.50 to at least0.75 is at 84 percent at the March meeting and 78 percent for the May meeting, along with a 7 percent chance of an increase to a 1.0 rate.
• Gold was prevented from falling further as the U.S. Dollar Index fell by 0.25 percent to 101.87 as of 1830GMT. The index is a measure of the dollar against a basket of major currencies.
• The precious metal was given further support as the U.S. Dow Jones Industrial Average fell by 22 points, or0.11 percent as of 18:30 GMT.
• Investors are awaiting non-farm payrolls data on Friday for further clues on the strength of the US economy after Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen last week said the central bank was poised to lift rates, provided that jobs and inflation data held up.
• "If the (non-farm payroll) data does come in better than market expectations, it will drag gold prices further," said OCBC analyst Barnabas Gan.
"But with fund futures fully pricing in the rate hike story, I'd presume gold will just be supported at the $US1,200handle into next week."
• Silver for May delivery dropped 26.2 cents, or 1.51 percent, to close at 17.036 dollars per ounce.
Reference: Xinhua, Business News
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