Gold eases for a fourth session, touching its lowest level in nearly a week ahead of next week's Fed meeting

Gold prices eased for a fourth straight session on Wednesday 21 October, touching their lowest level since 15 October, Reuters reported. Spot gold was at US$4,127.53 an ounce, while US gold futures for December delivery rose 0.1% to US$4,145.70, according to the Reuters report published by CNBC. RTTNews put spot gold at US$4,121.91 at 6:09am New York time (10:09am GMT).

Reuters said higher oil prices had revived concerns about inflation, while investors waited for the US Federal Reserve’s policy meeting next week. Nearly all economists surveyed by Reuters expect the Fed to keep interest rates unchanged this month before raising them in December, the agency said.

“Gold has adhered to the downtrend that began 2 months ago on persistent expectations that more Fed rate hikes are in store,” said Han Tan, chief market analyst at Bybit, according to Reuters. Gold pays no interest, which Reuters noted makes it less attractive when interest rates rise.

In Asian trading, COMEX gold futures slipped 0.1% to US$4,138.7 an ounce, and the ASX gold sub-index fell 0.7%, Market Index reported.

Among other metals, spot silver fell 0.7% to US$57.60 an ounce, platinum fell 0.4% to US$1,642.25 and palladium fell 1% to US$1,091.87, Reuters said.

For last week’s move, see our earlier report.