Gold prices slip below Rs 27,000 in futures trade on global cues

Metal sheds 0.5% in Singapore as US Fed moves closer to boosting interest rates, first time since 2006

Gold prices today eased below the Rs 27,000-mark by falling Rs 178 to Rs 26,972 per 10 grams in futures trade amid a weak global trend.

At Multi Commodity Exchange, delivery in December contract was trading lower by Rs 178, or 0.66 per cent, at Rs 26,972 per 10 grams in a business turnover of 377 lots.

February gold shed Rs 173, or 0.63 per cent, to Rs 27,185 per ten grams in 7 lots.

Analysts attributed the fall in gold futures to a weak global trend where it retreated from three-month high as signs of a buoyant US economy revived expectations that the Federal Reserve may raise interest rates and data showed that China expanded quicker than economists forecast in the third quarter.

Globally, gold fell 0.5 per cent to $1,171.38 an ounce in Singapore as the Federal Reserve moved closer to boosting US interest rates for the first time since 2006.