Gold prices on Monday, February 20, firmed up as the dollar waekened, although moves were muted as markets awaited details on U.S. President Donald Trump’s tax policy.
Spot gold was up 0.2 percent at $1,237.67 an ounce by 1440 GMT, while U.S. gold futures for April delivery were little changed at $1,238.90.
The metal is highly sensitive to rising U.S. rates, which increase the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding bullion while boosting the dollar, in which it is priced.
Liquidity was thinned by the absence of U.S. traders for the Presidents Day holiday.
The dollar has lost some support in recent weeks as a lack of concrete detail dampened post-election euphoria over Trump’s commitment to cutting taxes and boosting spending, Reuters reports.
Investor appetite has shown signs of easing since gold hit a three-month high on Feb. 8. The world’s largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, SPDR Gold Shares, reported an outflow of 2.4 tonnes on Friday, the first in nearly four weeks.
Data also showed on Friday that speculators cut their net long position in COMEX gold for the first time in three weeks in the week to Feb. 14.
Silver was down 0.1 percent at $17.96 an ounce, platinum was 0.1 percent higher at $1,001.70 and palladium was down 0.5 percent at $771.30.
