* Spot gold extends losses to lowest since mid-September
* SPDR assets at six-week low
* Spot palladium falls 4.2 percent to six-week low
* Coming up: U.S. jobs data Friday
(Updates prices, adds comment, byline, NEW YORK dateline)
By Marcy Nicholson and Clara Denina
NEW YORK/LONDON, Nov 5 (Reuters) - Gold fell to a seven-week
low on Thursday as the dollar .DXY hit a three-month high, and
looked vulnerable to further losses after Federal Reserve
officials left the door open to a U.S. interest rate rise in
December.
Palladium saw the biggest drop among precious metals,
falling more than 4 percent to a six-week low.
Fed Chair Janet Yellen said on Wednesday that a rise in
rates in December was a "live possibility" if justified by
upcoming economic data. William Dudley, president of the New
York Fed, later on Wednesday agreed with her comments.
urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N12Z20G urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N12Z2O1
On Thursday, Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart said the
U.S. central bank's last policy statement was deliberately
trying to convince investors of a possible December hike and was
successful in doing so. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N1302RU
"All of this pressure has been due to the increasing
expectations for the Fed to move in December," said David Meger,
director of metals trading for Vision Financial Markets in
Chicago.
"That has strengthened the dollar against a basket of
currencies and pressured the precious metals complex across the
board."
Spot gold XAU= fell to $1,103.90 an ounce, its weakest
since Sept. 16 earlier and was down 0.2 percent at $1,105 by
2:28 p.m. EST (1928 GMT). U.S. December futures GCZ5 settled
down 0.2 percent at $1,104.20.
Bullion, which has lost around $60 during the past six
trading sessions, is about $30 shy of a 5-1/2-year trough of
$1,077 hit in July.
As gold pays no interest, the rise in returns on U.S. bonds
US10YT=RR and other markets is seen as negative for the metal.
"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, which is 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. GOL/ETF
Palladium XPD= dropped as much as 4.2 percent to a
six-week low of $600 an ounce and was on track for its biggest
weekly loss in more than four years. The metal suffered after
breaking technical support levels and as investment in
exchange-traded products continued to fall.
Platinum XPT= fell 0.7 percent to $945.50 an ounce and
silver XAG= dipped to a one-month low of $14.90 an ounce.