FX.co ★ Gold Futures Settle Lower For 2nd Straight Session As Dollar Rises

Gold futures settled lower on Monday, losing ground for a second successive session, as the dollar firmed against its rivals amid rising prospects of the Federal Reserve resorting to aggressive policy tightening to combat rising inflation.

Risk sentiment improved after China eased lockdown restrictions and U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said that President Joe Biden has asked his team to look at the option of lifting some tariffs on China to fight inflation.

Gold prices edged higher earlier in the session as the dollar weakened a bit and Treasury yields dropped slightly.

The dollar index climbed to 102.43 by late morning before easing to 102.31, but is still holding in positive territory with a gain of nearly 0.2%.

Gold futures ended lower by $6.50 or 0.3% at $1,843.70 an ounce, after posting their biggest single-session drop in about three weeks on Friday.

Silver futures for July ended up by $0.184 at $22.092 an ounce, while Copper futures for July settled at $4.4350 per pound, down $0.0370 from the previous close.

Markets await the release of U.S. inflation data this week after EU inflation shocked many with a record high reading last week.

U.S. inflation data, due on Friday, is expected to show an increase of 0.7% on a monthly basis in May, up from 0.3% in April.

Market participants also await a European Central Bank (ECB) policy meeting on Thursday for confirmation whether the central bank will raise rates at the July 21 policy meeting.