Egypt Daily News – Gold prices fell on Monday, with US Treasury bond yields rising, while investors awaited a series of economic data this week to clarify the path of the Federal Reserve’s (US central bank) monetary policy this year.
Spot gold prices fell 0.6 percent to $2,624.20 per ounce, and US gold futures fell 0.8 percent to $2,633.80, according to Reuters.
Jigar Trivedi, chief analyst at Reliance Securities, said: “Gold is trading amid somewhat weak momentum with rising yields and traders awaiting a series of US economic data that will be issued this week to clarify the path of the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy.”
The US jobs report, scheduled to be released on Friday, may provide more evidence about the interest rate plans that the US Federal Reserve will adopt this year after it indicated last month that it would slow down the pace of reducing borrowing costs in light of inflation continuing to rise above the two percent target level.
Investors are also awaiting the minutes of the Federal Reserve’s latest monetary policy meeting, which will be released on Wednesday, to extract more evidence.
Goldman Sachs postponed the date on which it expects gold prices to reach $3,000 per ounce to the second quarter of 2026 from December 2025, indicating the expected reduction in the number of US interest rate cuts.
US President-elect Donald Trump returns to the White House on January 20, and the tariffs and trade protectionist policies he proposes are expected to stoke inflation.
Gold is used as a hedge against inflation and during times of uncertainty, but high interest rates reduce the attractiveness of the yellow metal, which does not generate a return.
As for other precious metals, silver rose in spot transactions by 0.8 percent to $29.84 per ounce. Platinum fell 0.2 percent to $936.05, and palladium advanced 0.4 percent to $926.25.
