Investing.com - Gold prices struggled for direction in quiet trade on Thursday, as volumes were thin ahead of the New Year holiday.
The precious metal is on track to post an annual decline of approximately 11% in 2015, the third yearly loss in a row, as speculation over the timing of a Federal Reserve rate hike dominated sentiment for most of the year.
With the first U.S. rate hike since 2006 out of the way, investors are now focusing on the pace of future rate increases. The Fed, from its forecasts, is anticipating four rate hikes next year.
Rising interest rates historically have been bad news for gold, which can't compete with the higher interest rates offered by other assets.
In recent trade, gold for February delivery on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange inched up $1.00, or 0.09%, to trade at $1,060.80 a troy ounce during U.S. morning hours.
A day earlier, gold fell $8.20, or 0.77%, to end at a two-week low. Prices plunged to a more than five-year low of $1,046.80 on December 3.
Meanwhile, silver futures for March delivery tacked on 0.3 cents, or 0.02%, to trade at $13.84 a troy ounce. Silver is on track to post an annual decline of nearly 11% in 2015.
Elsewhere in metals trading, copper shed 2.2 cents, or 1.03%, to $2.124 a pound. The red metal is on track to post an annual decline of almost 25% in 2015 as concerns over the health of China's slowing economy dominated sentiment for most of the year.
The Asian nation is the world’s largest copper consumer, accounting for nearly 45% of world consumption.