Gold Heads for Weekly Lower, Fed’s Dovish Bias Boosts Dollar

By Arundhati Sarkar

Feb 17 (Reuters) – Los precios del oro perdían casi un 1% el viernes, mientras el lingote will go hacia su tercera caída semanal consecutive, allocated for the advance of the dollar tras la nueva retórica de línea dura de los funcionarios de la Reserva Federal the United States.

* Spot gold was down 0.8% at $1,822.82 an ounce at 0932 GMT, after falling to its lowest level since late December. So far this week, gold has fallen 2.2%. US gold futures fell 1.3% to $1,821.20.

* Two Fed officials said on Thursday that the US central bank probably should have raised interest rates more than it did earlier in the month.

* Following the remarks, the dollar index hit six-week highs, making bullion less attractive to overseas buyers, while bond yields also rose.

* The latest remarks, which put a 50 basis point rate hike and more than one rate hike back on the table, benefit the dollar and weigh on precious metals markets, according to Peter Fertig, an analyst at Quantitative Commodity Research.

* While there are chances that gold will rally, they appear limited and would depend on how much central banks raise rates beyond what markets have expected, Fertig added.

* Higher interest rates increase the opportunity cost of holding gold bullion, which does not earn interest.

* Traders are now awaiting the release of the latest FOMC meeting minutes and US GDP data next week for further clues on rising rates.

* Among other precious metals, spot silver was down 1.6% at $21.2608 an ounce, platinum was down 0.3% at $917.29 and palladium was down 2, 2% to $1,477.95.

(Reporting by Arundhati Sarkar in Bengaluru; Editing in Spanish by Ricardo Figueroa)