©Reuters. Gold bars in a photo from the Reuters archive.
(Reuters) – It fell on Monday as rising bond yields offset weakness amid expectations of higher interest rates, as markets look for new catalysts amid falling trading volumes.
It was down 0.2% to $1,789.29 an ounce as of 12:14 GMT. U.S. gold futures fell 0.1%, to $1,798.00.
US Treasury yields increased on Monday, while sales of European government bonds also affected the US market as the dollar fell.
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said last week that the bank would continue to raise interest rates next year. Other major central banks have also indicated the same.
Although gold is considered a hedge against inflation, higher interest rates increase the opportunity cost of holding bullion.
As for other precious metals, it fell 0.7% to $23.05 an ounce.
Platinum fell 0.5% to $986.20 and 2.2% to $1,675.38.
(Report by Suha Jado and Mohamed Attia for the Arab Bulletin – Edited by Ali Khafaji)
