Gold traded near 3-month low on Thursday as pressure from strong dollar continued while hopes geopolitical tensions from Ukraine are easing sapped demand on the metal as a safe haven asset.
The U.S. dollar remained firm amid weakness in other major currencies and expectations the Fed may raise interest rates sooner than predicted.
The dollar index, which tracks the green currency’s movements versus a basket of six major currencies, is currently hovering around 84.23.
A report due later in the day may show U.S. initial jobless claims fell to 300,000 in the week through September 6, while tomorrow retail sales may signal a rise by the most in four months in August.
Pressure may remain on the shiny metal until next week’s policy meeting by the Federal Reserve.
On the political front, the tensions may be easing after Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said Russia had withdrawn more than two-thirds of its troops from his country.
The yellow metal is still traded near support at $1250 levels, where the next target could be $1240.
Meanwhile, gold is trading around $1249.15 after hitting a high of $1249.97 and a low of $1246.33.
Among other precious metals, platinum slipped to $1377.25 from the day`s opening of $1378.60, palladium dipped to $849.25 from $848.70 and silver ticked down to $18.90 from $18.92.