By Phoebe Sedgman(Bloomberg) — Gold held near a three-month low as investors weighed the outlook for higher U.S. interest rates before the Federal Reserve begins a two-day meeting. Platinum extended losses to the lowest level since 2009.
Bullion for immediate delivery traded at $1,154.48 an ounce by 10:12 a.m. in Singapore from $1,154.81 on Monday, according to Bloomberg generic pricing. The metal slumped to $1,147.72 on March 11, the lowest level since Dec. 1.
Key to the debate for the Fed’s March 17-18 meeting will be whether the economy has gained enough steam to warrant removing a pledge to be “patient” on raising borrowing costs. While an improving labor market bolstered speculation rates will be increased for the first time since 2006, data on Monday showed manufacturers cut production unexpectedly in February and homebuilder confidence fell in March.
“All but half a handful of economists expect the word ‘patient’ to be removed from its forward guidance,” analysts from IG Markets Ltd. wrote in an e-mailed note.
The dollar surged to the highest in a decade last week and hedge funds exited gold at the fastest pace in more than four months as employers added more jobs than expected in February and the unemployment rate declined to the lowest in almost seven years. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell on Monday after climbing for a fourth week in the period ended March 13.
Platinum for immediate delivery dropped as much as 0.3 percent to $1,105.25 an ounce, the lowest since 2009, before trading at $1,105.63. Silver lost 0.5 percent to $15.572 an ounce. Palladium fell 0.2 percent to $778 an ounce, the lowest since Feb. 23.
