LONDON, Jan 13: Gold hit one-month lows on Tuesday on a firmer dollar, weaker oil and faltering demand, but bargain hunting limited further losses.

Gold was quoted at $814.20/$815.60 an ounce down from $819.35 an ounce in New York late on Monday, but off a one-month low of $813.80 an ounce.

Gold prices have fallen around 6 per cent so far in January, after rising 8 per cent in December.

Now we are back to reality where there is no demand and the market is drifting. We are coming back to where we should be in the first place.

Gold’s losses were limited by buying interest from jewellers in Asia ahead of the Lunar New Year holidays later this month, dealers said.

The precious metal has bounced more than 20 per cent since falling to a 13-month low around $680 in late October. It hit an all time high of $1,030.80 an ounce last March.

However, physical demand, a key determinant of sentiment and prices, is seen coming under pressure over the next three months.

Reports of low physical demand from the key demand centres continues to be reported and this might extend for the next couple of months, Richcomm Global Services said in a note.

Platinum was quoted at $927/$937 an ounce, down from $956.00 at the New York close.Falling car sales in China added to the gloomy outlook for the auto industry, the largest user of platinum. Car sales fell 8 per cent in December from the previous year, the country’s official industry association said.

New York gold futures were at $822.0 an ounce in electronic trading, down 0.6 per cent.

Silver was trading at $10.55/$10.63 an ounce versus $10.62 an ounce on Monday, while palladium was at $180.00/$188.00 from $184.00.

Investors began to turn their attentions to the ECB, which is expected to cut key interest rates by 50 basis points to 2 per cent on Thursday.—Reuters