Gold Set For Worst Month In 4 Years As Dollar Rises

Gold fell on Wednesday and was on track for its biggest monthly decline in nearly four years, as the dollar benefited from caution that crept into financial markets after the first US presidential debate.

Spot gold fell 0.7 per cent to $1,883.62 per ounce by 0944 GMT (3:14 pm in India), declining 4.3 per cent so far in September, setting it up for its worst monthly performance since November 2016.

US gold futures were down 0.8 per cent at $1,888.10 per ounce.

"I think from gold's perspective, it (the election debate) was a non-event and all we saw gold doing was honouring its inverse relationship with the US dollar," said independent analyst Ross Norman.

He said gold still had momentum but had probably made most of its gains.

"Gold is in a consolidation pattern, but within a bull trend," he said.

For the quarter, bullion is on track for its eighth straight gain.

A chaotic first US presidential debate turned investors cautious and drove them to seek refuge in the dollar, reducing gold's appeal for other currency holders. The dollar index was set for its best month since July 2019.

Gold also failed to take advantage of retreating US stock futures after Mr Trump cast doubt on whether he would accept the election's outcome.

"If you do get a situation where Trump refuses to acknowledge the result of the election because he lost, then I think that would be very beneficial for gold," said Natixis analyst Bernard Dahdah.

Such an event would raise questions over the US political and economic system and therefore benefit gold, he added.

Investors also tracked progress on a new US coronavirus relief bill.

Silver fell 2.1 per cent to $23.66 per ounce and platinum slipped 2 per cent to $866.97. Silver was on track for its first monthly contraction since March, falling more than 16 per cent, and platinum was set to post its biggest fall since March, declining 6.6%

Palladium fell 0.3% to $2,301.61 per ounce but was up 2.7% for the month.