Gold prices fell on Monday, pressured by a stronger dollar, as investors awaited more clues on when the U.S. Federal Reserve will announce its first interest rate cut this year.
Spot gold fell 0.3 percent to $2,030.9 an ounce by 0100 GMT. U.S. gold futures fell 0.4 percent to $2,040.6 an ounce.
The dollar index rose 0.1 percent, making bullion priced in dollars more expensive for foreign buyers.
Last week, Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller said he was in no rush to cut interest rates, confirming investors’ bets that U.S. rate cuts would not come before June.
Meanwhile, another Federal Reserve official sees the U.S. central bank on track to cut interest rates later this year, despite stronger-than-expected inflation and labor market data in January.
Minutes of the meeting showed that most policymakers at the last Federal Reserve meeting were concerned about the risks of cutting interest rates too early.
Markets are currently pricing in a 68 percent chance of a June cut, according to the Fed’s Fed Watch tool. Lower interest rates make holding non-yielding bullion more attractive.
Meanwhile, the surge in interest in Bitcoin ETFs is prompting investors to swap their holdings into gold-backed ETFs.
Among other precious metals, platinum fell 0.4 percent to $896.95 an ounce, palladium fell 0.3 percent to $968.23, and silver fell 0.4 percent to $22.86 an ounce.
