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PRECIOUS-Gold hits 10-month low after biggest monthly drop in 3 years

Published 01/12/2016, 09:39 pm
Updated 01/12/2016, 09:50 pm
© Reuters.  PRECIOUS-Gold hits 10-month low after biggest monthly drop in 3 years
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* Gold slid 8 pct in Nov as bond yields, dollar surged

* No1 gold ETF saw biggest monthly outflow since 2013

* Bond yields still rising in Europe after oil rally

* GRAPHIC-2016 asset returns: http://reut.rs/1WAiOSC (Updates throughout, adds LONDON dateline)

By Jan Harvey

Dec 1 (Reuters) - Gold fell to its lowest since February on Thursday, extending losses after its biggest monthly decline in more than three years, as a surge in oil prices boosted bond yields, denting interest in non-yielding gold as an alternative investment.

The precious metal fell more than 8 percent in November, hurt by a jump in the dollar and Treasury yields, and by expectations that the Federal Reserve is gearing up to lift interest rates for only the second time in a decade this month.

That led to hefty outflows from gold-backed exchange-traded funds, the largest of which, New York-listed SPDR Gold Shares GLD , said its holdings fell nearly 60 tonnes in November, the most of any month since May 2013. GOL/ETF

Spot gold XAU= was down 0.4 percent at $1,168.27 an ounce at 1020 GMT, while U.S. gold futures GCv1 for February delivery were down $4.00 an ounce at $1,169.90.

"The key story for gold is still the combination of a stronger dollar and rising Treasury yields," Julius Baer analyst Carsten Menke said. "Either of the two is not really helping gold at the moment."

"We've seen outflows of around 5 million ounces (from ETFs) since the U.S. election, and these are mainly from the U.S.-listed products," he said. "There is a real rotation away from safe-haven investments, and towards pro-growth assets."

U.S. bond yields have surged since Republican candidate Donald Trump's shock election to the U.S. presidency on Nov. 8, which led to speculation that his commitment to infrastructure spending would spur growth and inflation.

That pushed the dollar sharply higher, with the U.S. unit hitting its highest since 2003 last week. While it retreated on Thursday, it remains at highly elevated levels. FRX/

Germany led euro zone government bond yields higher on Thursday as the first output cut by major oil producers since 2008 triggered an 8 percent surge in oil prices and boosted expectations of higher inflation. GVD/EUR

Gold is highly sensitive to rising interest rates, as these increase the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding bullion.

Silver XAG= was 0.7 percent lower at $16.35 an ounce, while platinum XPT= was down 0.7 percent at $904.75 after hitting its lowest since Feb. 8 at $895 earlier in the session.

Palladium XPD= was up 0.3 percent at $772.20, having outperformed other precious metals last month to rise 24 percent, its best month since February 2008.

"Like the base metals ... we believe that palladium has also become detached from the fundamental data," Commerzbank (DE:CBKG) said in a note. "We see considerable correction potential." MET/L

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