Gold Futures Extend Losses as U.S. Dollar Strengthens

Gold futures continued to decline on Monday, adding to their worst weekly pullback in nearly two months, as the strength of the U.S. dollar continued to weaken the value of the precious metal.

Price Action

• Gold futures for December delivery (GC00, -0.03% GCZ23, -0.03%) dropped by 60 cents to $1,946 per ounce on Comex.
• Silver futures for September delivery (SI00, -0.04% SIU23, -0.04%) fell by 1 cent to $22.73 per ounce.
• Palladium futures for September delivery (PAU23, -0.92%) declined by $12.60, or 1%, to $1,296 per ounce, while Platinum futures (PLV23, -0.03%) remained marginally lower at $914 per ounce.
• Copper futures for September delivery (HGU23, -0.23%) also dipped slightly to $3.71 per pound.

Market Drivers

The recent strength of the U.S. dollar against its major rivals, coupled with the possibility of another interest-rate hike from the Federal Reserve in September, has been weighing down on gold prices.

According to market analyst Rupert Rowling from Kinesis Money, "Gold is slipping ever closer to $1,900 an ounce in the face of a strong U.S. dollar and the prospect of interest rates rising again in September and remaining at a high level for the foreseeable future."

The ICE U.S. Dollar Index (DXY), which measures the dollar's strength against a basket of other currencies, was up by 0.1% at 102.93.