London — Gold hit its lowest in more than two weeks on Monday as expectations that Japan’s ultra-loose monetary policy would stay in place after Shinzo Abe’s election victory at the weekend lifted the dollar to a three-month high versus the yen. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzao Abe’s win also fed into positive sentiment in equity markets that were buoyed last week by fresh optimism about tax cuts in the US, curbing interest in gold as an alternative asset. Spot gold was down 0.4% at $1,275.30 an ounce by 9.40am GMT, having touched its lowest since October 6 at $1,273.61. US gold futures for December delivery were down $4.10 at $1,276.40. "[Gold] is just following what the dollar is doing," said Natixis analyst Bernard Dahdah. "People are also getting more excited about the stock markets, and that removes a bit of business from gold." The metal could drift down towards the $1,250 level by early December, he said, weighed down by the prospect of a further increase to US interest rates ...
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