Gold hit a six-month low on Friday, on course for its largest annual loss in 32 years, as the US Federal Reserve’s first step away from ultra-loose monetary policy further undermined the investor case for holding bullion.

The Fed said this week that the US economy was strong enough for its massive bond-buying scheme to be scaled back, winding down an era of easy money that saw gold rally to an all-time high of $1,920.30 an ounce in 2011.

“If you look at the global economy and the outlook for monetary policy … we are in an environment where we are going to need a much bigger problem in the world than we foresee for gold to recapture any of its lustre,” Baring Asset Management investment manager Andrew Cole said.