Gold Losing Glitter As Rate Hike Looms

San Francisco (May 23)  Gold futures inched lower Monday, extending a losing streak amid signs that  Federal Reserve  will soon raise interest rates.

A June rate hike once seemed a long shot, but today's remarks from a pair of Fed officials cemented expectations that tightening is imminent.

 The Fed  is moving closer to "slow normalization" of interest rates, St. Louis Fed President  James Bullard  said in  Beijing Monday  .

"By nearly any metric, US labor markets are at or beyond full employment," Bullard said. "This may put upward pressure on inflation going forward."

San Francisco Fed President  John Williams  said there could be two or three rate hikes this year.

June gold settles at  USD1,251.50  /oz, down  USD1.40  , or 0.1%. It was the fourth straight daily drop in prices.

Source: RTTnews