Sept 28 (Reuters) – Gold prices fell on Monday as a rise in oil prices heightened inflation concerns and reinforced expectations of further Federal Reserve interest rate hikes.
* Spot gold was down 0.7% at $4,254.77 per ounce, as of 0010 GMT. US gold futures drifted 0.7% lower to $4,289.70.
* Iran insisted that only diplomacy can solve its conflict with the United States and Israel, after US President Donald Trump said he rejected an Iranian proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and end fighting. Oil prices rebounded more than 1%.
* The Fed raised rates earlier this month, lifting its target rate range by a quarter percentage point to between 3.75% and 4%. According to CME’s FedWatch Tool, traders are pricing in a 66% chance of a US rate hike in October.
* Higher energy prices can fuel inflation by raising costs across the economy. Gold is widely viewed as a hedge against inflation, but it can struggle in a high interest rate environment as rising yields increase the opportunity cost of holding the non-yielding metal.
* Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack said on Friday she is concerned that persistently high inflation risks conditioning the American public to accept elevated prices as the norm, adding the central bank cannot let that happen.
* A survey showed US consumer sentiment slipped to a four-month low in September amid worries that rising inflation would erode households’ purchasing power.
* Among other metals, spot silver fell 1% to $63.67, platinum was down 0.7% at $1,765.28 and palladium lost 0.7% to $1,257.70.
NO DATA/EVENTS EXPECTED FOR MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 28
(Reporting by Ashitha Shivaprasad in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)
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