Investing.com - Gold prices dropped to a six-week low in European morning trade on Thursday, adding to overnight losses after the Federal Reserve left the door open to raising interest rates in June.
Comex gold futures sank to a session low of $1,234.80 a troy ounce, a level not seen since March 21. It was last at $1,235.70 by 2:55AM ET (06:55GMT), down $12.80, or about 1%. Meanwhile, spot gold was at $1,234.40.
Also on the Comex, silver futures shed 5.9 cents, or about 0.4% to $16.48 a troy ounce, after touching a four-month low of $16.41 a day earlier.
The Fed concluded its two-day policy meeting Wednesday afternoon, giving a positive assessment of the U.S. economy while keeping rates unchanged, as was widely expected.
The U.S. central bank's policymaking committee downplayed weak first-quarter economic growth while emphasizing the strength of the labor market, suggesting it was still on track for two more rate hikes this year.
Futures traders are pricing in around a 70% chance of a hike at the Fed's June meeting, according to Investing.com's Fed Rate Monitor Tool. Odds of a September increase was seen at about 85%.
The precious metal is sensitive to moves in U.S. rates, which lift the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding assets such as bullion, while boosting the dollar in which it is priced.
Elsewhere in metals trading, platinum slumped 0.6% to $898.80, while palladium lost 0.3% to $797.30 an ounce.
Copper futures dipped 1.5 cents to $2.528 a pound.