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- US gold futures for August delivery were down 1.1 percent at $4,315.40.
LONDON: Gold prices fell to their lowest in more than two months on Monday, after last week’s strong US jobs data boosted expectations of a Federal Reserve rate hike, while Israel and Iran traded strikes, pushing oil prices higher and fueling inflation concerns.
Spot gold fell 0.9 percent to $4,290.66 per ounce by 0845 GMT, its lowest level since March 23, having already lost more than 3 percent on Friday.
US gold futures for August delivery were down 1.1 percent at $4,315.40. “Spot gold has been sent to a two-month low as markets now expect a Fed rate hike this year, following yet another blockbuster US jobs report,” said Han Tan, chief market analyst at Bybit.
US non-farm payrolls increased by 172,000 in May after rising by an upwardly revised 179,000 in April, the US Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics report showed on Friday.
Markets are now pricing in a more than 70 percent chance of a Fed rate hike in December, up from 45 percent a week ago, according to the CME FedWatch tool. While gold is seen as a hedge against inflation, higher interest rates tend to weigh on the non-yielding metal.
Yields on the benchmark 10-year US Treasury note jumped to a two-week high, increasing the opportunity cost of holding gold.
Spot silver was down 1.2 percent at $66.98 per ounce, platinum lost 1.1 percent to $1,757.53, and palladium fell 0.5 percent to $1,219.61.