While the U.S. Fed resisted from a rate hike in its September meet, increasing expectations of rate hike later in the year along with strengthening of the U.S. dollar pushed gold prices down. MCX Gold futures started the month of September at Rs. 26,833 per 10 grams, up by 0.57 percent over previous month's close. Sell-off in global stock markets and downbeat economic data releases (U.S. manufacturing index, Markit PMI etc.) raised the investment appeal of gold and hence helped gold prices rise. Later, gold prices steadied down as the dollar strengthened on U.S. private-sector employment data that showed an increase of 190,000 jobs in August, with gains continuing at a slightly faster pace than a month earlier. Subsequently, release of monthly U.S. jobs report, which offered a mixed picture of the health of the U.S. labor market, aided the downtrend in gold prices. While the U.S. economy in August saw its smallest employment gains in five months, adding a modest 173,000 new jobs, unemployment fell to 5.1 per cent-its lowest level since April 2008.
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