PRECIOUS-Gold near 1-mth low with December rate rise still on table – by Clara Denina (Reuters U.S. – November 5, 2015)

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LONDON, Nov 5 (Reuters) – Gold held near a one-month low on Thursday as the dollar rose to a three-month high and the metal looked vulnerable to further losses after U.S. Federal Reserve officials left the door open to a rate rise in December.

Fed Chair Janet Yellen said on Wednesday that the United States was ready for higher interest rates if upcoming economic data justified them, pointing to a possible December rise.

William Dudley, president of the New York Fed, said later on Wednesday that December “is a live possibility, but we’ll see what the data shows”.

“Fed officials want to keep the December rate possibility open and the relation between gold prices and monetary policy expectations is very high,” ABN Amro analyst Georgette Boele said.

Spot gold was unchanged on the day at $1,106.96 an ounce by 1056 GMT, not far above the previous session’s low of $1,106, its weakest since Oct. 2.

Bullion, which has lost nearly $60 during the past six trading sessions, is about $30 shy of a 5-1/2-year trough of $1,077 hit in July.

“We think that a December rate hike is more likely than not and an appropriate market reaction is a lightening up of risk, weaker commodities, higher yields and a firmer dollar,” ANZ said in a note.

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