Futures Price of gold dropped significantly today, reaching the lowest level since February 26, helped by the strengthening of the US dollar and comments from the Fed, which suggest that the Central Bank may soon raise key interest rates.

The head of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Bullard said that the possible arguments in favor of a rate hike in April. "Question rate hike at the April meeting is not removed from the agenda at the same time is unreasonable to raise rates if inflation expectations will subside." - He added. Recall, Scatter the Fed indicates that the end of the year maybe two rate hikes. However, Bullard said that the regulator does not enter into commitments in this regard, and should respond to the economic data from meeting to meeting. Earlier the head of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, Patrick Harker said that the Fed should consider the possibility of another rate rise next month. In turn, the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago Charles Evans said that waiting for two more rate increase this year. Higher interest rates will boost the dollar and make gold more expensive for investors who hold other currencies, which pushes the price down. Since the beginning of 2016 the price of gold rose 15%, reflecting the increase in demand for safe assets due to the instability in the financial markets ,.

"Comments from the Fed contributed to the decline in gold prices, but they are unlikely to block the long-term mood, promote the growth of prices", - said Georgette Belle of ABN Amro. Meanwhile, CitiFX noted that the closure of the day below $ 1225 would mean a move to $ 1191 in the short term, and possibly less for a more distant time.

A small impact on share prices also helped by US data. The Commerce Department reported that sales of new buildings were restored in February, became another sign of continuing, albeit restrained, the momentum in the housing market. Sales of new buildings reached a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 512 000. This was the highest since December and was slightly above economists' consensus forecast of 510 000. The February figure was 2% higher than in January, but 6.1% lower than a year ago. But the rate in February 2015 was unusual; 501,000 new homes sold during the year have been reported. January data, which originally reported (494,000) have been revised to 502 000. The median sale price was $ 301,400, which is 6.2% higher compared to January.

April futures price of gold on COMEX today fell to $ 1222.40 per ounce.