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• Gold prices were steady on Monday as the U.S. dollar inched lower, with the latest U.S. jobs report easing fears of inflation and faster U.S. rate hikes.
Spot gold was flat at $1,323.07 per ounce at 0315 GMT. U.S. gold futures for April delivery were little changed at $1,323.70 per ounce.
• Money market traders stuck to bets that the U.S. FederalReserve would raise interest rates three times this year, withonly around a one-in-four chance seen for a fourth rate hike in 2018.
• A relief rally swept across Asian share markets on Monday inthe wake of the jobs report.
• "We still are somewhat wary on gold short-term as we suspect that the precious metal will struggle on account of a stronger dollar, which we expect to start perking up as we head closer to the (next) Fed meeting," INTL FCStone analyst Edward Meir said in a note. The central bank is due to meet from March 20.
• Spot gold may revisit its March low of perounce, as suggested by a double-top and a retracement analysis, according to Reuters technical analyst Wang Tao. 9$1,312.99
Meanwhile, speculators raised their net long position in gold by 4,178 contracts to 161,812 contracts, Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) data showed.
Among other precious metals, silver fell 0.1 percent to $16.58 per ounce.
• Palladium was down percent at per ounce,while platinum was flat at $per ounce.0.1$994.72 964.50
• The biggest voting blocs on both Wall Street and Main Street flipped from bullish to bearish in their short-term outlooks for gold prices, based on the weekly Kitco News gold survey.

The majority of the analysts and traders who took part in the survey cited two main factors behind their call for lower gold prices – the strong U.S. jobs report Friday that seemingly clears the way for another Federal Reserve rate hike this month, as well as U.S. President Donald Trump announcing that he was prepared to meet North Korea’s Kim Jong Un in an effort to resolve a standoff over North Korea’s nuclear-weapons program.

• “I am bearish for gold next week,” said Kevin Grady, president of Phoenix Futures and Options. “The strong nonfarm payroll numbers ensure a March rate hike. We are also seeing positive news coming out of North Korea, which put some pressure on gold.
“We have also been seeing longs liquidating this past week. Our 100-day moving average is $1,307.20 and the 200-day moving average is $1,297. Both of these levels should provide initial support, but a settlement below the 200 DMA will attract short sellers.”
• Phil Flynn, senior market analyst with at Price Futures Group, also sees weaker gold as some investors allocate away from the metal to markets such as equities in light of the jobs and North Korea news. Still, the Flynn said, “I don’t expect to see it [gold] sell off hard” due to budding inflation worries.
“With the dollar in recovery mode and gold on thin support at $1,310, I expect gold is headed lower in the week ahead,” said Ken Morrison, editor of the newsletter Morrison on the Markets. “Secondary support at $1,300 is likely to be tested but should hold.”
Colin Cieszynski, chief market strategist at SIA Wealth Management, also said he is bearish on gold for next week.
“Capital has been flowing out of defensive havens, particularly JPY [the Japanese yen] since the Trump-Kim summit was announced,” Cieszynski said. “On top of this, strong nonfarm payrolls keep the pressure on the Fed to keep raising interest rates, supporting USD.
“Technically, gold continues to drop away from resistance near $1,340, recently trading near $1,320. Potential downside support levels appear near $1,314, then the $1,300 to $1,305 zone.”

Reference: Reuters,Kitco