Gold declines with the rise of the dollar and anticipation of US jobs data

Gold prices fell today, under pressure from adjustments to a commodity index and anticipation of US jobs data, in addition to the rise in the dollar, which increased pressure on prices in the near term.

Gold fell in spot transactions by 0.4 percent to $4,458.10 per ounce by 01:26 GMT.

The precious metal had hit a record high of 4549.71 on December 26.

US gold futures for February delivery increased 0.2 percent to $4,467.60.

The dollar rose at the beginning of Asian trading, at a time when traders await the release of the latest US jobs report, in addition to a decision from the Supreme Court regarding President Donald Trump’s use of exceptional powers to impose customs duties.

This week, the annual rebalancing process for the Bloomberg Commodity Index begins, which is a periodic adjustment of commodity weights to maintain the index’s compatibility with market conditions, and this is expected to continue to put pressure on the precious metals market.

According to the Fed Watch tool, investors currently expect the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates at least twice this year.

Investors are awaiting the non-farm payrolls data to obtain indications about the future path of monetary policy.

Assets that do not generate returns, such as gold, usually tend to rise in times of low interest and during geopolitical or economic turmoil.

As for other precious metals, silver fell in spot transactions 1.5 percent to $75.71 per ounce after recording an all-time high of $83.62 on December 29.

Platinum fell in instant transactions by 2.9 percent to $2,202.50 per ounce, after hitting the highest level ever at $2,478.50 last Monday.

Palladium fell 2.1 percent to $1,749.25 an ounce.