Gold drops over 2% as dollar strengthens; investors await Fed policy cues

By Sherin Elizabeth Varghese

(Reuters) - Gold prices slipped more than 2% on Monday, weighed down by the greenback's continued rise and the broader implications of Donald Trump's victory on fiscal policy and interest rate cuts.

Spot gold fell 2.6% to $2,613.51 per ounce, as of 12:17 p.m. ET (1716 GMT). U.S. gold futures fell 2.8% to $2,620.20.

With the dollar index rising 0.5% to its highest level since early July, gold became less attractive to non-dollar buyers. Last week, the index surged more than 1.5% to 105.44 following the announcement of Trump's victory in the U.S. presidential election. [USD/]

"The market's attention has focused to the second-order effect since the red wave," said Daniel Ghali, commodity strategist at TD Securities.

"The likelihood of tariffs being imposed relatively early on into Trump's presidency and the resulting strong demand for dollar that is creating. Stronger dollar is weighing on gold prices for the first time in months because it's also associated with increasing odds that the Federal Reserve might delay its easing cycle."

Bullion logged its worst week in over five months following Trump's election last Tuesday to a second four-year term. His victory poses new uncertainties for the U.S. central bank as it continues to consider interest rate cuts now that inflation is nearing the Fed's 2% target.

The Fed cut the benchmark rate a quarter of a percentage point last week to a range between 4.5% to 4.75%.

Traders now see a 65% chance of a 25 basis-point Fed rate cut in December, versus around 80% chance before Trump's victory. [FEDWATCH]

Meanwhile, Fed officials, including Chair Jerome Powell, are scheduled to speak this week, while U.S. consumer and producer price index data, weekly jobless claims and retail sales figures are also due this week.

Spot silver fell 2.5% to $30.51 per ounce.

Despite efforts to use less silver and replace it with cheaper metals, the rapid increase in installations and the growing use of N-type cells are likely to keep silver demand strong in 2024, Heraeus analysts said in a note.

Platinum lost 0.7% to $961.88, and palladium dropped 0.9% to $980.08.

(Reporting by Sherin Elizabeth Varghese in Bengaluru; Editing by Vijay Kishore)