* Gold falls for fourth straight session
* Drop in dollar fails to lift bullion
* Physical demand, investor flows weak
(Updates prices; adds comment, second byline, NEW YORK
dateline)
By Marcy Nicholson and Clara Denina
NEW YORK/LONDON, Nov 2 (Reuters) - Gold hit a four-week low
on Monday, extending a sell-off into a fourth straight session
as technical signals deteriorated and investors fretted that the
Federal Reserve would raise U.S. interest rates this year.
The metal failed to benefit from a fall in the dollar after
downbeat Chinese factory surveys lent support to safe-haven
currencies such as the yen. U.S. and European stocks rose.
MKTS/GLOB
Spot gold XAU= fell to $1,132.35 an ounce, its lowest
since Oct. 5, in earlier trading and was down 0.6 percent at
$1,135.551 at 2:31 p.m. EST (1931 GMT). It fell nearly 2 percent
last week, its worst weekly performance in nine weeks.
U.S. gold futures for December delivery GCZ5 settled down
0.5 percent at $1,135.90 an ounce.
Gold had rallied last month on speculation that the softness
in the global economy could prompt the Fed to delay raising
rates until next year. But the U.S. central bank's hawkish tone
last week triggered a fresh sell-off in bullion. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N12R2IF
"We built up a lot of longs in the market the last five or
six weeks, and a good portion of it's coming out with the
interpretation of the Fed statement," said James Steel, chief
metals analyst for HSBC Securities in New York.
Higher interest rates would weigh on gold because they lift
the opportunity cost of holding the non-yielding asset.
"The fact that the Fed is prepared to raise rates even when
inflation is quite low is bearish to gold in the short term,"
said Macquarie analyst Matthew Turner.
Technical selling also sent prices lower, analysts said,
with gold expected to test support at $1,131, said Reuters
technicals analyst Wang Tao. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N12X1C1
Asian gold demand saw some improvement toward the end of
last week as lower prices attracted buyers. But local premiums
remained largely unmoved, a sign that demand has not picked up
in a significant way, dealers said. GOL/AS
Physical demand outside of Asia also softened. U.S. Mint
American Eagle gold coin sales slumped 73 percent in October.
urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N12U24K
Data on Friday showed that speculators trimmed a bullish bet
in gold from an 8-1/2-month high in the week ended Oct. 27.
urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N12U2BW
In other precious metals, palladium XPD= took the biggest
hit and dropped 4.5 percent to a five-week low of $642.97 an
ounce.
Spot platinum XPT= fell 0.7 percent to $975 an ounce, and
silver XAG= was down 0.8 percent at $15.39.