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Gold down on stronger U.S. dollar

Xinhua, October 13, 2016 Adjust font size:

Gold futures on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange fell on Wednesday as the U.S. dollar strengthened and traders waited for the release of the Federal Reserve's minutes due after the market's close.

The most active gold contract for December delivery fell 1.9 U.S. dollars, or 0.15 percent, to settle at 1,252.30 dollars per ounce.

Traders are eagerly awaiting the meeting minutes from the previous Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting to be released after the market's close. Analysts note that investors believe the Fed may raise rates from 0.50 to 0.75 during the December FOMC meeting.

According to the CME Group's Fedwatch tool, the current implied probability of a hike from 0.50 to 0.75 is at 9 percent for the November 2016 meeting, and 70 percent at the December meeting.

The U.S. Dollar Index rose by 0.24 percent to 97.94 as of 1900 GMT. The index is a measure of the dollar against a basket of major currencies. Gold and the dollar typically move in opposite directions, which means if the dollar goes up, gold futures will fall as gold, measured by the dollar, becomes more expensive for investors.

The U.S. Department of Labor released the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey on Wednesday, preventing the precious metal from falling further, as the worse-than-expected U.S. data drove investors to gold's safe haven properties.

The report showed job openings decreasing by 7.3 percent during the month of August to a 5.443 million level. Analysts note weaker hiring data driving the openings survey down.

Silver for December delivery dropped 0.4 cents, or 0.02 percent, to close at 17.505 dollars per ounce. Platinum for 2017 January delivery fell 7.9 dollars, or 0.83 percent, to close at 941.9 dollars per ounce. Endit