Gold Price Wobbles Lower On Rate Hike Hints

New York (Oct 5)  Gold futures inched lower Thursday as US stocks surged to fresh record highs, denting the precious metal's safe haven appeal.

Dec. gold lost USD3.60, or 0.3%, to settle at USD1,273.20/oz.

Hawkish comments from a Federal Reserve also weighed on gold prices ahead of tomorrow's closely-watched jobs report.

San Francisco Fed President John Williams says he doesn't need to see inflation move higher to support another interest rate increase this year, as long as the economy continues to improve.

Another policy maker says a December rate hike is in the cards.

"I have penciled in a third rate hike in December but we have to see how the inflation dynamics play out," Philly Fed President Patrick Harker said in an interview on CNBC.

In economic news, new orders for US manufactured goods rebounded by slightly more than anticipated in the month of August, according to a report released by the Commerce Department on Thursday.

The report said factory orders jumped by 1.2% to USD471.7 billion in August after tumbling by 3.3% to USD466.2 billion in July. Economists had expected factory orders to climb by 1.0%.

RTTnews