Investing.com - Gold prices fell further in Asia on Friday as sentiment moved into bear territory ahead of an expected Fed rate hike next month and a strong dollar curbed buying interest.
Gold for December delivery on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange eased 0.85% to 1,206.55 a troy ounce. Copper prices for January delivery on the Comex dropped 0.97% to $2.461 a pound. Investors are currently pricing 95.4% chance of a rate hike at the Fed's December 13-14 meeting, according to Investing.com's Fed Rate Monitor Tool.
Overnight, gold prices traded in a narrow range after remarks from Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen that signaled a rate hike soon and U.S. data that was seen as upbeat.
The U.S. Department of Labor said initial jobless claims in the week ending November 12 fell by 19,000 to 235,000, the lowest level since 1973. Analysts expected jobless claims to rise by 3,000 to 257,000 last week.
Separately, the Commerce Department said housing starts surged 25% in October to hit 1.323 million units, while building permits rose 0.3% to 1.229 million units.
Data also showed that U.S. consumer prices rose 0.4% in October, in line with expectations. Year-over-year, consumer prices increased by 1.6% last month, its highest reading since October 2014.
Earlier in the day, Yellen warned of the danger of waiting too long to tighten monetary policy. The comments came a day after Philadelphia Fed head Patrick Harker said that he was in favor of raising interest rates, while Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester said the Fed must not overreact to market moves following the shock result of the presidential election.