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Dollar rally pushes gold close to two-month low as traders await Fed cues

Gold touches lowest price since Sept. 20

Gold prices fell to nearly a two-month low on Tuesday in the face of a stronger dollar, optimism about economic growth under a second Trump administration, and a broader market pivot following the Nov. 5 U.S. presidential election.

Spot gold was down 0.8 per cent at $2,600.49 per ounce by 12:00 p.m. EST (1700 GMT), after dropping 1 per cent to hit its lowest level since Sept. 20 at $2,589.59 earlier in the session. U.S. gold futures fell 0.4 per cent to $2,607.00.

The dollar index's rise to more than four-month high increased the cost of bullion for holders of other currencies, while bitcoin surged on continued demand from investors who see it as a play when President-elect Donald Trump takes power in January. U.S. Treasury yields also edged higher.

"I think this is just a corrective move in a longer-term bullish market. The policies right now are thought to be pretty inflationary. So if we see another wave of inflation coming, then that should drive gold higher," said Daniel Pavilonis, senior market strategist at RJO Futures.

Technically, the market seems to be poised for an upward move, with support around $2,600, he added. Markets are watching a heavy slate of U.S. economic data this week, including the release on Wednesday of the consumer price index for October, along with remarks from Federal Reserve Chair Powell and other U.S. central bank officials. Following the Fed's recent decision to cut its benchmark interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point to the 4.50 per cent–4.75 per cent range, traders currently see a 65 per cent chance of another rate cut in December, versus around 80 per cent before Trump's election victory last week. Gold, buoyed by pre-election euphoria as a "Trump trade," is now dipping on growth optimism, Carsten Menke, an analyst at Julius Baer, said in a note.

But a multi-polar world and the "desire of emerging market central banks to be less dependent on the U.S. dollar and – in an extreme case – less susceptible to U.S. sanctions" still point to a longer-term rise in gold prices, Menke added.

Spot silver fell 0.3 per cent to $30.6, platinum lost 2.5 per cent to $941.05 and palladium fell 3.8 per cent to $943.50.