London — Gold prices fell to a near one-week low on Tuesday on speculation that the eventual successor to US Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen would favour higher interest rates, denting bullion’s appeal. Spot gold was down 0.3% at $1,289.66 an ounce as at 10.40am GMT, while US gold futures for December delivery slipped 0.9% to $1,291.70 per ounce. "It’s partly [the possibility of a hawkish Fed chair] and that the Fed is going to, and needs to, hike rates this year that is contributing to a bullish dollar environment," said Martin Arnold, commodities analyst at ETF Securities. US President Donald Trump was favouring policy hawk John Taylor as the next head of the Fed, Bloomberg reported, pushing the dollar higher and lifting US treasury yields. Taylor, a Stanford economist, is seen as more likely to raise rates than Yellen, which would boost the dollar and dent gold and US treasuries. Trump will meet Yellen on Thursday as part of his search for a new candidate for her position, a s...

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