NEW YORK: Gold prices on Thursday fell by as much as 2% to their lowest in about a week as the dollar advanced after the US Federal Reserve said it will deliver more interest rate hikes next year.

Spot gold dropped 1.2% to $1,785.36 per ounce, as of 09:56 ET (1456 GMT), having earlier slid to a low of $1,771.89. US gold futures fell 1.3% to $1,794.40.

“The Fed is maintaining its hawkish messaging for the time being, despite the declining growth outlook, and in turn without a cut on the horizon, it’ll be very difficult for speculators to move their capital towards gold,” said Daniel Ghali, commodity strategist at TD Securities.