Gold falls to a near six-year low on strong dollar and expectations for a US interest rate rise in December
Gold slipped to its lowest level in nearly six years today, as it headed for its sixth straight weekly decline.
The precious metal has come under pressure from a strong dollar and heightened expectations that the US Federal Reserve will raise interest rates for the first time in nearly a decade at its meeting in December.
Spot gold fell as low as $1,054.45, its lowest since February 2010.
"The dollar is bid and you have the inverse relationship with gold simply because the Fed is going to be tightening," Robin Bhar, an analyst at Societe General, said.
Read more: Fed rate hike next month is a "live possibility"
"The omens are not positive for gold in the lead-up to the December rate meeting."
David Morrison, senior market strategist at Spread Co, added: "It is also fair to say that the sell-off in gold and silver was exacerbated by illiquidity due to the Thanksgiving holiday."
"Many traders took the opportunity to make a long weekend of it by taking today off too."
US Fed chair Janet Yellen has said that the committee was yet to make a decision on a December rate hike, however it was still a "live possibility".
This was echoed San Francisco Fed president, John Williams, who said this week that there's a "strong case" for raising interest rates if the US continues to get good data on the economy.