Gold prices slumped on Monday, January 29,as the U.S. dollar gained some lost ground and continued gains in equities weighed on the bullion.
However, the yellow metal hovered near a 17-month high hit last week as the greenback hit a three-year low after U.S. Treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin backed a weaker currency.
Spot gold was down 0.2 percent at $1,347.60 per ounce, as of 0739 GMT. U.S. gold futures for February delivery slipped 0.5 percent to $1,345.80 per ounce.
The U.S. dollar is trying to climb back up and that is weighing on gold currently, according to Ronald Leung, chief dealer at Lee Cheong Gold Dealers in Hong Kong.
“However, gold’s weakness due to a stronger dollar and equity markets could be temporary,” said Hareesh V, head of commodity research, Geojit Financial Services.
“Gold will touch the $1,400-an-ounce level again as long as it doesn’t break the $1,260 mark.”
The yellow metal had dropped below the $1,400-an-ounce level in Sept. 2013 and has not crossed above the level since.
Spot gold may drop to $1,335 per ounce, as a support at $1,347 may not hold, according to Reuters technical analyst Wang Tao.
In other precious metals, silver fell 0.4 percent to $17.33 per ounce. It rose about 2.3 percent last week, its
biggest weekly gain for the year, so far.
Platinum slipped 0.5 percent to $1,004.74 per ounce, after dipping 0.3 percent last week in its first weekly decline in seven.
Palladium declined 0.4 percent to $1,087.70 per ounce. In the previous session, it touched $1080.00, its lowest since Jan. 11,Reuters reports.
