Gold prices skidded lower to start October trade after bullion ended the past month with a sixth straight monthly loss.
The yellow metal has been knocked back to six-week lows in recent sessions as the ICE U.S. Dollar index DXY, -0.06% revived its 2018 march higher, including a 0.1% increase early Monday as markets kept tabs on progress toward a North American Free Trade Agreement deal.
December gold GCZ8, -0.12% fell $7.40, or 0.6%, to $1,188.90 an ounce. Prices, based on the most-active contracts, were down 0.4% for last week and down 0.9% for last month, FactSet data showed. Based on the most-active contract’s settlement of $1,254.50 on June 29, prices lost 4.6% for the third quarter.
“Despite Friday’s positive session, the gold bulls are still on the brink of a decisive turn lower again,” said Richard Perry, market analyst at Hantec Markets. “The former higher low at $1183 has been marginally breached in recent sessions but without the confirmation, however, the fact that the deterioration is occurring means that the pressure is mounting.”
Precious metals are sensitive to Federal Reserve interest-rate increases because they can push up U.S. bond yields, which can reduce the attraction of nonyielding bullion, and tend to boost the dollar, which makes gold more expensive for buyers using other currencies. The Fed is expected to raise its benchmark rate for a fourth time this year in December and expectations for that move and any further tightening could be informed by Friday’s payrolls data, particularly its wage component.
Meanwhile, December silver SIZ8, -0.90% fell 17 cents, or about 1.1%, to $14.54 an ounce.
Read: Palladium may soon be worth more than gold
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