Gold Slips On Dollar Strength As Investors Look To Fed Meeting

Gold prices edged lower on Monday and the dollar strengthened as investors await a slew of central bank meetings this week for additional cues on the pace of rate rises.

Spot gold dipped 0.3 percent to $1,792.22 per ounce, while U.S. gold futures were down 0.4 percent at $1,803.55.

The U.S. Federal Reserve is all set to raise rates by 50 basis (bps) points on Wednesday after lifting rates by 75 bps in each of the last four meetings held between May and November 2022.

That said, a hawkish set of dots from the Fed and statement from Chair Jerome Powell could boost the dollar and treasury yields.

Meanwhile, the U.S. consumer inflation report for November is due on Tuesday, which may indicate inflation is sticky and interest rates may have to stay higher for longer.

Eurozone and the U.K.’s inflation numbers as well as rate decisions from the European Central Bank and the Bank of England will also be in the spotlight this week.

Risk-off sentiment prevailed in equity markets as China faced a surge in virus 19 cases after partially easing aspects of its so-called zero-COVID policy.

A top government health adviser warned that the epidemic in China is spreading rapidly and that it will be difficult to completely cut off the transmission chain.