BENGALURU: Gold slipped to a more than two-week low on Monday as a firm dollar and more risk appetite outweighed support coming from expectations of a pause in the US interest rate hike cycle.

Spot gold was 0.2 per cent lower at $1,279 per ounce by 1123 GMT, having hit its lowest since Jan. 4 earlier in the session of $1,277.11.

US gold futures were down 0.3pc at $1,278.20 per ounce.

ActivTrades chief analyst Carlo Alberto De Casa said a breakout through $1,277 for gold could lead the price down to $1,260.

Analysts said gold was still finding some support from expectations that the US Federal Reserve had reached the end of its monetary tightening, a slowdown in global economic conditions and geopolitical uncertainties, analysts said.

Holdings of SPDR Gold, the largest gold based exchange traded fund, rose 1.5pc on Friday to 809.76 tonnes.

Meanwhile, spot palladium, which hit a record high of $1,434.50 last week driven by a sustained deficit, was little changed at $1,376.86.

Silver fell 0.7pc to $15.21 per ounce, while platinum was little changed at $797.

Published in Dawn, January 22nd, 2019