In Asian trading on Monday, gold prices showed upward movement but remained significantly below recent peak levels due to the continued strength of the US dollar, which exerted notable pressure on metal markets.
Investors maintained a strong focus on developments related to US inflation and interest rates, contributing to a preference for the dollar.
Despite some recovery in metal markets following Friday's losses, gold remained well off its record highs reached earlier last week, spurred by signals of potential interest rate cuts from the Federal Reserve. However, gold experienced a significant decline from those highs towards the end of the week as investors shifted towards the dollar amid dovish signals from other central banks.
The dollar's strength was further bolstered by expectations surrounding the release of the PCE price index data, the Fed's preferred inflation measure, later in the week, as well as comments from various Fed officials.
In contrast, other precious metals showed mixed performance on Monday, with platinum futures edging up while silver futures dipped slightly. Industrial metal copper saw a rebound in prices on Monday after facing losses in the previous session, although it continued to trade below the 11-month peaks reached last week.
Copper's recent surge was driven primarily by expectations of supply constraints, particularly with major Chinese refiners indicating plans to reduce production. However, recent Chinese data revealed a surge in copper inventories to four-year highs, suggesting that supplies in the largest copper-importing nation remained ample.
Paraphrasing text from "Investing" all rights reserved by the original author.
