Gold prices drop as markets brace for Fed tapering

Gold prices dropped on Thursday after investors took up positions on expectations that the Federal Reserve next week will announce plans to begin tapering its monthly USD85 billion asset-purchasing program.

On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for December delivery traded at USD1,330.70 during U.S. afternoon hours, down 2.43%.

Gold prices hit a session low of USD1,326.10 a troy ounce and high of USD1,366.60 a troy ounce.

Gold futures were likely to find support at USD1,315.40 a troy ounce, the low from Aug. 14, and resistance at USD1,416.30, Tuesday's high.

The December contract settled down 0.01% at USD1,363.80 a troy ounce on Wednesday.

Consensus began to build on Thursday that the Federal Reserve will announce plans to begin tapering its monthly USD85 billion asset-purchasing program at its Sept. 17-18 policy meeting, especially on the coattails of improving data out of the U.S. labor market hitting the wire earlier.

The Department of Labor said earlier that the number of individuals filing for initial jobless claims in the U.S. fell by 31,000 to 292,000 from 323,000 in the previous week.

Analysts were expecting the number to rise by 7,000 to 330,000, though the report said the decline was largely due to two states not processing all of their claims because of computer upgrades.

Still, investors sold gold on sentiments that the size of Fed asset purchases may soon begin to fall.

Monetary stimulus programs such as Fed asset purchases weaken the dollar to spur recovery, which makes gold an attractive hedge.

Elsewhere on the Comex, silver for December delivery was down 4.14% at USD22.212 a troy ounce, while copper for December delivery was down 1.47% and trading at USD3.209 a pound.