Gold prices fell on Monday as fading expectations of an early interest rate cut in the United States led to the rise of the dollar and treasury bond yields before the release of key inflation data later this week.
By 05:56 GMT, the price of gold in spot transactions decreased by 0.7% to $2,030.49 per ounce. The US futures contracts for gold also declined by 0.6% to $2,037.00 per ounce.
According to “Reuters,” trading was weak in Asia as the Japanese market was closed due to a holiday.
The dollar index rose by 0.1% after recording its best week since July 2023 on Friday, making other currencies more expensive, while yields on 10-year US Treasury bonds rose above 4%.
Official data showed that business owners in the United States employed a larger number of workers than expected in December. However, separate data from the Institute for Supply Management indicated that the services sector significantly slowed down last month.
Approximately 64% of investors expect the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates in March, down from nearly 90% before the start of the new year, according to the CME Group’s FedWatch tool.
Investors are now awaiting the release of the US Consumer Price Index data on Thursday to determine expectations regarding the pace of interest rate cuts by the US central bank.
As for other precious metals, silver fell 0.8% in spot trading to $22.97 per ounce, while platinum declined 0.6% to $954.13. Palladium lost 1.3% to reach $1013.78, marking its tenth consecutive session of decline.
