Gold holds near 10-week low on aggressive U.S. rate hike bets

© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: An ingot of 99.99 percent pure gold is cast at the Krastsvetmet non-ferrous metals plant in the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk, Russia March 10, 2022. REUTERS/Alexander Manzyuk

By Swati Verma

(Reuters) - Gold prices hovered near their lowest level in two months on Thursday, as expectations of aggressive U.S. policy tightening spurred the dollar and added pressure on non-yielding bullion.

Spot gold was up 0.1% at $1,888.50 per ounce, as of 1004 GMT. It hit $1,871.81, its lowest since Feb. 17 earlier in the session. U.S. gold futures inched up 0.1% at $1,889.80.

"The dollar is extremely strong not only against the euro, but also against other major currencies... that is clearly an indication that the foreign exchange side is making it less attractive to hold gold," said Quantitative Commodity Research analyst Peter Fertig.

The dollar rose past the psychological level of 130 yen for the first time since 2002 and was set for its best monthly rise since May 2012.

For gold, in the event of further downside, the next level on watch may be at $1,850 an ounce, Yeap Jun Rong, a market strategist at IG, said in a note.

Gold has declined about 2.5% this month, which could be its biggest monthly fall since September as the Fed has started to raise interest rates to tame the fastest U.S. inflation in four decades.

Higher U.S. interest rates tend to boost the dollar and push up bond yields, putting pressure on the greenback-denominated gold.

Markets now await the Fed's May 3-4 meeting.

"The Fed is definitively talking about a 50 basis rate hike next week... Also at the other FOMC meetings this year, they are going to continue to hike rates to bring inflation down, and that is the situation which is not beneficial for gold," Fertig added.

In other metals, spot silver fell 0.3% to $23.21 per ounce, having hit its lowest since Feb. 11.

Platinum jumped 1.1% to $927.60 and palladium gained 2.6% at $2,259.93.