Gold is heading for a monthly decline

LONDON (Archyde.com) – Gold rose more than 1% on Friday, supported by a decline in the dollar, but bullion is likely to record a monthly decline, with expectations that US interest rates will be raised significantly. By 1144 GMT, spot gold rose 1.2 percent to $ 1916.21 an ounce, but its price has fallen 1.1 percent so far this month, in the first monthly decline since January. And US gold futures rose 1.3 percent to $ 1916.60 an ounce. “The dollar’s rise early in the week was a strong driver of gold weakness and we’ve seen the dollar reverse course…this clearly provides some support for gold,” said Ole Hansen, analyst at Saxo Bank. He added that factors supporting gold such as diversification of investments, volatility in stocks and bonds and the risk of slowing economic growth have not faded away yet. Raising US interest rates pushes the dollar and the yield on Treasury bonds higher and puts pressure on dollar-denominated gold. As for other precious metals, silver rose in spot transactions 1.4 percent to $23.45 an ounce. And platinum rose 1.2 percent to $ 930.31 an ounce. The two metals are on their way to record monthly declines as well. And palladium rose 2.5 percent to $ 2287.98 an ounce.