BENGALURU: Gold held on to a small loss from the previous session on Monday, amid expectations of a US Federal Reserve interest rate hike in September and fears of escalating trade tensions between the United States and China.
FUNDAMENTALS
Spot gold was down 0.1 per cent at $1,194.01 at 0030 GMT, having fallen 0.4 per cent in the previous session.
US gold futures fell 0.1 per cent to $1,199.80 an ounce.
US jobs growth accelerated in August, with wages notching their largest annual increase in nine years, strengthening views the economy was so far weathering the Trump administration's escalating trade war with China.
The stronger-than-expected payrolls data cemented expectations that the US Fed will raise interest rates in September, in what would be its third hike this year.
The Federal Reserve should keep raising US interest rates until mid-2019, and only then needs to take a decision on when it ought to stop, Dallas Fed President Robert Kaplan suggested on Friday.
US President Donald Trump warned on Friday he was ready to slap tariffs on virtually all Chinese imports into the United States, threatening duties on another $267 billion of goods on top of $200 billion in imports primed for levies in coming days.
Central banks will be in focus with the European Central Bank and Bank of England both meeting this week. The ECB is expected to signal it is ready to start tapering bond purchases, but President Draghi is likely to sound cautious after a run of mediocre to softening euro zone data.
Hedge funds and money managers increased their bearish stances in COMEX gold and silver contracts to the biggest on record in the holiday-shortened week to Sept. 4, US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) data showed on Friday.
Physical gold buying picked up pace in major Asian centres last week as lower prices fuelled appetite for the metal, with India seeing healthy demand ahead of the festive season despite a rise in domestic rates to a two-month high.
Holdings of SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, fell 0.20 per cent to 745.44 tonnes on Friday from Thursday.
Canada's Tahoe Resources Inc, said on Friday that operations have restarted at its La Arena gold mine in Peru, ending an eight-day suspension.
Argentina's central bank chief said on Friday government financing for 2019 "will be more than sufficient" and that the recent sharp depreciation of the country's peso currency will "correct itself quicker than markets believe."
Source: economictimes.indiatimes.com