* Yellen's hawkish tone sends gold lower
* SPDR assets at six-week low
* Coming up: U.S. Weekly jobless claims; 1330 GMT
(Updates prices)
By A. Ananthalakshmi
SINGAPORE, Nov 5 (Reuters) - Gold held near a one-month low
on Thursday and looked likely to drop below the $1,100-an-ounce
level after Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen bolstered market
expectations for a U.S. interest rate hike in December.
Yellen pointed to a possible December interest rate lift-off
and laid out what now appears the base case at the U.S. central
bank - that low unemployment, continued growth and faith in a
coming return of inflation means the country is ready for higher
interest rates.
Another Fed official voiced similar opinions, sending
non-interest-paying bullion lower for a sixth straight session
on Wednesday.
Spot gold had ticked up 0.2 percent to $1,109.10 an
ounce by 0627 GMT, staying close to the previous session's low
of $1,106, the weakest since Oct. 2.
Gold is about $30 shy of a 5-1/2-year trough of $1,077 hit
in July. It has lost nearly $60 over the past six sessions.
"We think that a December rate hike is more likely than not
and an appropriate market reaction is a lightening up of risk,
weaker commodities, higher yields and a firmer dollar," ANZ said
in a note.
Yellen's remarks caused investors to reset their
expectations of a December rate hike above 60 percent.
Another top Fed official said on Wednesday that a policy
meeting set for Dec. 15-16 is a "live possibility" for raising
U.S. interest rates for the first time in nearly a decade.
The dollar .DXY rose to a three-month high, along with a
jump in U.S. Treasury yields, hurting gold, which tends to
benefit from a low interest rate environment.
"Bullion weakened after perceivably hawkish monetary policy
comments by ... Yellen," said HSBC analyst James Steel. "The
next focus for the gold market may shift to the upcoming release
of nonfarm payrolls data on Nov. 6."
A robust U.S. jobs report on Friday could trigger another
sell-off in gold, already facing weak technicals and investor
outflows.
Assets in SPDR Gold Trust GLD , the top gold-backed
exchange-traded fund, fell to 680.11 tonnes on Wednesday - the
lowest in six weeks.
"Price action is very bearish, but we expect to find initial
support at the October low of $1,105 and the September low of
$1,100," ScotiaMocatta analysts said.
PRICES AT 0627 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg
Spot gold 1109.1 2.04 0.18
Spot silver 15.03 -0.01 -0.07
Spot platinum 953.25 1.25 0.13
Spot palladium 623.1 -2.9 -0.46
Comex gold 1109 2.8 0.25
Comex silver 15.03 -0.028 -0.19
COMEX gold and silver contracts show the
most active months