Gold Futures Settle Higher As Dollar Drifts Lower

Gold futures settled higher on Monday as the dollar shed ground against most of its major rivals amid expectations the Federal Reserve will slow its pace of policy tightening.

The dollar index, which dropped to 102.94, recovered some ground, but at 103.12, was still down nearly 0.8% from the previous close.

Last week’s data showing a contraction in U.S. service sector activity in the month of December has raised expectations that the Fed will slow the pace of interest rate hikes.

Gold futures for February ended higher by $8.10 or about 0.4% at $1,877.80 an ounce.

Silver futures for March ended lower by $0.111 at $23.871 an ounce, while Copper futures for March settled at $4.0265 per pound, gaining $0.1155.

Investors now look ahead to Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s speech at a central bank conference in Stockholm on Tuesday and the U.S. December inflation report due on Thursday for additional clues on the rate outlook.