LONDON: Gold touched its lowest in more than two weeks on Monday as markets remained nervous ahead of a US central bank meeting that could raise interest rates and signal three more increases this year.

The price of gold has bounced after each of the five previous US rate hikes and is expected to again, said Ole Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank in Copenhagen.

Spot gold fell for a fourth straight session and was down 0.1 per cent at $1,312.36 an ounce at 1322 GMT, having earlier dropped to $1,307.51, its lowest since March 1. US gold futures for April delivery were unchanged at $1,312.30.

“We have a band of support at $1,300-$1,307 — there’s the 100-day moving average coming in, there’s the previous low and $1,300 is the big psychological level,” Hansen said.

Silver shed 0.4pc to $16.24 an ounce. Palladium dropped 0.4pc to $990.97 while platinum was up 0.5pc at $947.30 after touching its lowest since Jan. 3 at $936.50.

Published in Dawn, March 20th, 2018