• Gold prices dipped on Monday as the previous session's upbeat U.S. payrolls data sparked a fresh rally in equities, shoring up expectations that the U.S. Federal Reserve would press ahead with further interest rate rises this year.
• World stocks hit a two-week high on Monday after Friday's strong jobs data helped offset investors' concerns about the potential for a trade war between the United States and other major economies.
• Spot gold lost 0.2 percent at $1,320.78 per ounce by 1:33 p.m. EST (1733 GMT), while U.S. gold futures for April delivery settled down $3.20, or 0.2 percent, at $1,320.80 per ounce.
• "Investors are now playing defense, so gold is sitting on the bench today," said Rob Lutts, chief investment officer of Cabot Wealth Management.
"Certainly higher interest rates are more competition to gold, however when inflation is a reason for higher interest rates, all bets are off and gold benefits," Lutts said.
• Money market traders stuck to bets that the Fed would raise interest rates three times this year after data released on Friday showed U.S. job growth recorded its biggest increase in more than 1-1/2 years in February.
• However, whether inflation will reignite and when remains elusive, traders have said.
• "We are now getting within distance of the FOMC (Federal Open Market Committee) meeting next week, with the rate hike being expected to be executed," Saxo Bank's head of commodity research Ole Hansen said.
"We've seen in the past that gold has been struggling ahead of these announcements, so I think we're just being sucked into the slipstream of that meeting."
• Meanwhile, silver decreased 0.6 percent at $16.50 an ounce. Palladium dropped 2 percent at $976.30 an ounce, while platinum lost 0.5 percent at $959.74.
Reference: Reuters
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