NEW YORK, Feb 7 — Gold slipped today on a stronger dollar and as investors booked profits after the yellow metal hit a near three-month high in the previous session, amid safe-haven demand on the back of rising global political uncertainty.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies, was up 0.7 per cent at 100.610.

Spot gold was down 0.52 per cent at US$1,229.11 (RM5,455.40) per ounce at 0814 GMT. In the previous session, the metal touched US$1,235.73, its highest since November 11. US gold futures fell 0.06 per cent, to US$1,231.2.

“Participants still look to play on the long side. However, we may see profit-taking push the metal towards the 100-day moving average at US$1,220.25,” MKS PAMP Group trader Sam Laughlin said in a note.

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Political uncertainty in the United States has been fuelled by President Donald Trump’s policies, the most controversial of which is a temporary ban on entry by people from seven mostly Muslim countries. Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank President Patrick Harker yesterday said he would be open to raising interest rates again at the US central bank’s March meeting if growth in jobs and wages continues.

The Fed raised rates for only the second time since the financial crisis in December, and most Fed policymakers agree with Harker that three more rate hikes this year would be appropriate.

“The prospects of interest rate hikes in the US is more likely than most people expect and there could be one in March,” said Mark To, head of research at Hong Kong’s Wing Fung Financial Group.

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“This should drive caution for the gold bulls since with prices rising to the US$1,230 range recently, maybe more people are looking forward to the US$1,250 range, and there could be some kind of reversal or correction any time soon,” he added.

Spot gold may continue to rise towards a resistance at US$1,249 per ounce, as indicated by a Fibonacci retracement analysis, according to Reuters technical analyst Wang Tao. Among other metals, silver fell about one per cent to US$17.57.

Earlier in the session, it reached US$17.76, its strongest since November 11. Platinum fell as much as 0.4 per cent to US$1,002.3, after hitting its highest since November9 at US$1,015.20 early in the day. Palladium dropped up to 1.5 per cent to US$760.40. — Reuters