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Bengaluru. — Gold prices fell yesterday as the dollar inched up from multi-month lows and as signs that the US economy was strengthening turned investor focus on to risk assets. Spot gold fell 0,3 percent to $1 262,85 per ounce as of 6am GMT. US gold futures for December delivery fell 0,7 percent to $1 269 per ounce. Wall Street’s Dow Jones Industrial Average broke the 22 000-barrier for the first time in its 121-year history, and is on track for a sixth consecutive record close.

It has risen 11 percent in 2017. The dollar, meanwhile, inched away from a 15-month low versus a basket of currencies yesterday.

“There’s still ongoing optimism in the global market with the Dow Jones Industrial Average at record highs,” said OCBC analyst Barnabas Gan.

“I think the global economic strength we’ve seen, especially from the US numbers and the very strong equity prints last night, were much more dominant in influencing (gold) prices than (the ongoing) geopolitical concerns.”

US inflation has been contained even as the country’s labour market appears to be in its best shape in many years, with the jobless rate staying near a 17-year low.

On Wednesday, a report by a private payrolls processor showed that US private employers added 178 000 jobs in July, below economists’ expectations, although payroll gains in June were revised up to 191 000 from an originally reported 158 000 increase.

“I think the markets are actually looking more closely at the revised June figures in the ADP jobs data more than the lower than expected July numbers,” Gan said.

Gold’s safe-haven appeal is dampened when an economy shows signs of strengthening, making investors turn towards riskier assets such as equities. — Reuters.