LONDON: Gold slid to its weakest since early January and silver to a four-year low on Monday as speculation that the US Federal Reserve will start its rate-tightening cycle sooner than expected fuelled selling of precious metals.

Losses were limited as the dollar took a breather after hitting four-year highs against a basket of currencies on Friday, and European stocks fell.

However, more weakness is on the cards as gold presses down towards its June 2013 low at $1,180, dealers said.

Spot gold touched a low of $1,208.36 and was down 0.2 per cent at $1,213.70 an ounce by 1403 GMT. US gold futures for December delivery were down $2.30 an ounce at $1,214.30, off a low of $1,208.80.

Published in Dawn, September 23rd , 2014