• Gold prices were little changed near a four-week high in North American hours on Monday, with holidays in the U.S., U.K. and China slowing trading activity around the world.
• Comex gold futures shed $1.40, or about 0.1%, to $1,266.69 a troy ounce by 8:15 AM ET (1215 GMT). Meanwhile, spot gold was at $1,266.91.
• Prices of the yellow metal ended Friday's session up almost 1%, after touching its strongest since May 1 at$1,269.30.
• Also on the Comex, silver futures tacked on 5.9 cents, or around 0.3%, to $17.38 a troy ounce. It rose to$17.40 in overnight trade, a level not seen since April 28.
• Trading volumes were likely to remain light with U.S. markets closed Monday for Memorial Day while the U.K. is also shuttered for a public holiday.
• Market players are looking ahead to this week's U.S. employment report on Friday for further signs of the Federal Reserve's likely rate hike trajectory through the end of the year.
Besides the monthly jobs report, this week's holiday-shortened calendar also features U.S. data on manufacturing and service sector growth, consumer confidence, auto sales, personal spending, core PCE inflation, as well as monthly trade figures.
• Futures traders are currently pricing in around an 80% chance of a hike at the Fed's June 13-14 meeting, according to Investing.com’s Fed Rate Monitor Tool.
However, market players are no longer convinced that the Fed will be able to raise rates two more times this year, with odds for a second hike by December currently at about 35%.
The median Fed policymaker forecast is for two more rate increases by year-end. But a recent run of disappointing U.S. economic data combined with signs of deepening political turmoil in the White House raised doubts over the Fed's ability to raise rates as much as it would like before the end of the year.
Reference: Seeking Alpha
Thai
Eng