Investing.com - Gold prices added to earlier losses on Thursday, falling to the lowest levels of the session after data showed that the U.S. economy grew faster than expected, reinforcing expectations for more U.S. interest rate hikes this year.
Comex gold futures dipped $7.00, or around 0.6%, to $1,246.00 a troy ounce by 8:45AM ET (12:45GMT). Meanwhile, spot gold was down $6.40 at $1,247.30.
Also on the Comex, silver futures for May delivery shed 7.0 cents, or about 0.4%, to $18.17 a troy ounce. In the previous session, the metal touched its highest since March 2 at $18.27.
Gross domestic product increased at a 2.1% annualized rate instead of the previously reported 1.9% pace, the Commerce Department said on Thursday in its third GDP estimate for the period. Analysts had expected growth to increase to just 2.0%.
Growth in consumer spending, which accounts for more than two-thirds of U.S. economic activity, was revised to a 3.5% rate in the fourth quarter. It was previously reported to have risen at a 3.0% rate.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was up 0.2% at 100.04 in New York morning trade. It touched a high of 100.06 earlier, the most since March 21.
Meanwhile, market players looked ahead to speeches by a host of Federal Reserve officials, whose comments will be scrutinized for clues on the future path of interest rate hikes.
New York Fed chief William Dudley is expected to be the most important, with a 4:30PM ET discussion on financial conditions and monetary policy. Besides Dudley, San Francisco Fed President John Williams speaks at 11AM ET, while Dallas Fed President Robert Kaplan speaks at 3PM in New York.
The Fed raised interest rates earlier this month and stuck to its outlook for two more hikes this year.
Fed fund futures priced in around a 50% chance of a rate hike in June, according to Investing.com’s Fed Rate Monitor Tool. Odds of a September increase was seen at about 70%.
The precious metal is sensitive to moves in U.S. rates, which lift the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding assets such as bullion. A gradual path to higher rates is seen as less of a threat to gold prices than a swift series of increases.
Elsewhere in metals trading, platinum tacked on 0.1% to $956.90, while palladium added 0.8% to $796.92 an ounce.
May copper futures dropped 0.6 cents, or 0.2%, to $2.672 a pound.