Gold futures led the precious metals market lower on Thursday (6 October), extending the trading week's declines brought on by heightened expectations of an interest rate hike by the US Federal Reserve.

At 1:35pm BST, Comex gold futures for December delivery were down 0.62% or $7.90 to $1,260.70 an ounce; extending the contract's first slide below $1,300 since 24 June, the day after the UK voted to leave the European Union.

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Josh Saul, chief executive officer of trading firm The Pure Gold Company, said demand for the yellow metal fell 9% Tuesday but shot back up on Wednesday as investors took advantage of the price decline to buy more.

"We are seeing a lot of clients who bought in June/July (when the referendum decision was announced) come back to us to top up their purchases in order to average out the cost of initial purchases.

"Interestingly, many who believe they had 'missed the boat' back in June, are now making first time purchases as fear and uncertainty over Deutsche Bank, associated bank volatility and the US presidential election make the gold price attractive and a strong buying opportunity."

Elsewhere in the precious metals market, Comex silver futures also registered a decline of 0.85% or 15 cents to $17.55 an ounce, while spot platinum fell 0.88% or $8.65 to $969.05 an ounce.

Meanwhile, the oil market's Opec infused rally continued for a fourth succession session with the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) joining Brent crude in climbing back above $50 per barrel.

Late on 28 September, the cartel said it had agreed to limit production to a range of 32.5m to 33m barrels per day (bpd) led by the Saudis, with further details expected on 30 November at its next meeting in Vienna, Austria.

At 2:05pm BST, the WTI front month futures contract was 0.76% or 38 cents higher at $50.21 per barrel, Brent rose 0.79% or 41 cents to $52.27 per barrel, yet analysts remain sceptical about how Opec would implement its planned cuts.

Analysts at Morgan Stanley said without caps on Libya, Nigeria or Iran, Opec could easily exceed 33 million bpd based on country level targets discussed at the International Energy Forum (IEF) Algiers.

"That's before considering any cheating on the production caps that may occur. In other words, outsized reductions from other producers, such as Saudi Arabia, may be required – a tough ask in our view."

OPEC