NEW YORK: Gold prices fell on Tuesday as the US dollar hit a one-year high on increased expectations of a Federal Reserve rate hike, outweighing support from softer oil prices amid progress in US-Iran talks.
Spot gold dipped 1.2 percent to USD4,138.79 per ounce by 11:45 a.m. ET (1545 GMT).
US gold futures for August delivery fell 1.1 percent to USD4,156.40 per ounce.
The US dollar rose to its highest level in more than a year on Tuesday, making gold more expensive for overseas buyers.
“Right now gold and silver aren’t really looking to the Middle East. I think they’re more looking closely at what the Federal Reserve said last week,” said Bob Haberkorn, senior market strategist at StoneX.
Hawkish signals to counter inflation from new Fed Chair Kevin Warsh have pushed investors to scale up bets on interest-rate hikes. Traders now see about an 86 percent chance of a rate hike by December, up from 61 percent before the Fed meeting last week, according to the CME FedWatch Tool.
While gold is often seen as a hedge against inflation, the precious metal tends to suffer in a high-interest-rate environment as it offers no yield. On the geopolitical front, the United States waived sanctions on Iran for 60 days from Monday, after the first talks under a nascent peace deal, though hostilities in Lebanon continued, officials said.
Earlier, US Vice President JD Vance said talks with Iranian officials in Switzerland had laid a good foundation for a final peace deal, with tanker traffic picking up through the previously choked Strait of Hormuz.
Brent crude futures fell more than 1 percent on Tuesday.
Investors now await US Personal Consumption Expenditures data, the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge, due on Thursday for further cues on monetary policy.