Gold tumbles from trading range as dollar soars

By Peter Hobson

LONDON (Reuters) - Gold prices fell on Thursday and broke below their recent trading range around $1,190-$1,210 an ounce after the U.S. dollar surged, making bullion more expensive for buyers using other currencies.

The dollar was on track for its biggest one-day gain in more than a month after data underlined the strength of the U.S. economy and Italian political turmoil weakened the euro.

The data came a day after the U.S. Federal Reserve raised interest rates and said it planned four more increases by the end of next year and another in 2020.

U.S. rate rises tend to boost the dollar and hurt gold prices. They also push up U.S. bond yields, reducing the attraction of non-yielding bullion.

"The data confirms that the U.S. economy is not about to fall off a cliff and that adds credence to the point that interest rates have to go higher," Saxo Bank analyst Ole Hansen said.

"With stock markets trading up and the dollar trading up, there's no room for gold." [MKTS/GLOB]

Spot gold was down 0.7 percent at $1,185.51 an ounce at 1405 GMT after hitting its lowest since Aug. 24 at $1,182.85. It was nearing August's 19-month low of $1,159.96.

The move below $1,190 triggered some pre-set sell orders, Saxo Bank's Hansen said. "There's a risk that momentum players will take it even lower."

U.S. gold futures were down 0.8 percent at $1,190.10.

Technical Fibonacci support was at $1,185.30, ScotiaMocatta analysts said.

Gold is down more than 13 percent from an April high, largely because of the stronger dollar, which has been boosted by a vibrant U.S. economy and fears of a global trade war.

But prices may be close to bottom, said Commerzbank analyst Carsten Menke.

Investors have largely priced in rate rises, and speculators who have built the largest net short position on record in Comex gold have little room to drive gold further down by expanding bets on lower prices, he said.

"Heading into next year, the strength of the dollar should soften, adding more upside to prices (and) around the turn of the decade, the expected slowdown of the economy should revive the demand for gold as a safe haven," he said.

Gold has traditionally been seen as a safe investment in times of economic or political turmoil, but this position has been usurped this year by the dollar.

Palladium was up 0.6 percent at $1,072.70 an ounce after touching an eight-month high of $1,084.10.

Silver fell 0.4 percent to $14.24 and platinum was down 1.4 percent at $809.49.

(Additional reporting by Vijaykumar Vedala in Bengaluru; Editing by Dale Hudson and David Goodman)