Gold inched lower on Thursday and was headed for its biggest weekly loss in 2018 as the dollar was boosted by minutes from the last U.S. Federal Reserve meeting that showed policymakers backed further rises in interest rates.
Spot gold slipped 0.1 percent to $1,322.06 per ounce by 1054 GMT, and was down 1.8 percent so far this week.
The yellow metal was in the red for a fifth straight session and earlier touched is lowest since Feb. 14 at $1,320.61. U.S. gold futures were down 0.5 percent at $1,325.30 per ounce. Gold is highly exposed to interest rates, particularly in the United States, as rate rises lift the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding assets and boost the dollar, in which gold is priced. "The general tone of the FOMC minutes was hawkish and convinced about the strength of the U.S. economy and that the inflation target will be reached," said Carsten Fritsch, a commodity analyst at Commerzbank.
