LONDON: Gold drifted lower on Thursday despite a weaker dollar as investors worried that US Federal Reserve minutes would highlight the prospect of further rate hikes.

Spot gold was down 0.2 per cent at $1,253.75 an ounce by 1215 GMT. The metal touched a one-week high of $1,261.10 in the prior session and had gained over $20 from Tuesday’s low of $1,237.32, its weakest since Dec 12.

US gold futures for August delivery were up 0.2pc at $1,255.90 an ounce. The dollar index fell to its lowest level in more than a week while the euro climbed half apc to near three-week highs following strong German data.

“Gold is not making huge headway even though we’re in a slightly weaker dollar environment. The market is very much in a wait-and-see mode ahead of the Fed minutes,” said Jonathan Butler, commodities analyst at Mitsubishi in London.

Among other precious metals, silver shed 0.1pc to $16.04 an ounce. Palladium rose 0.1pc to $946.80 an ounce, while platinum added 0.3pc at $842.10 an ounce.

Published in Dawn, July 6th, 2018