Gold falls below $1,250 as dollar climbs off three-week trough

Gold futures fell in American trade as the dollar index rose from November 22 lows for the third session out of four, following earlier data from the US today.

As of 04:06 GMT, gold futures due in February fell 0.34% to $1,245.80 an ounce, while the dollar index added 0.24% to 97.28 away from three-week lows. 

Earlier US data showed unemployment claims fell 27 thousand in the week ending December 8 to 206 thousand, far below estimates of 226K, while continuing claims for the week ending December 1 rose 25 thousand to 1.661 million. 

Import prices fell 1.6%, compared to a 0.5% increase in October, and missing estimates of a 1% drop. 

In an interview with Reuters, US President Donald Trump renewed criticisms of the Federal Reserve's policy tightening and rate increases. 

Trump expressed his desire for the Fed to cut rates to support the economy especially amid the current trade with China and other countries. 

On the chances of an economic recession, Trump believes the economy to be going strong, with corporations performing well too. 

The Federal Open Market Committee is scheduled to meet on December 18-19, with analysts expected the fourth rate hike of the year to below 2.25%. 

The Fed will also release three-year forecasts for growth, inflation, unemployment, and interest rates.