By Anjana Anil
(Reuters) – Gold’s record rally took a breather on Monday, as U.S. Treasury yields and dollar gained the upper hand, while investors awaited a series of U.S. economic data due this week for cues on the Federal Reserve’s interest rate outlook.
Spot gold fell 0.2% to $2,743.20 an ounce by 12:48 p.m. ET (1648 GMT). Bullion hit a record high of $2,758.37 last Wednesday.
U.S. gold futures were steady at $2,755.50.
Yields on benchmark 10-year Treasuries rose to a three-month high. The dollar index was on track for its best month since April 2022, making gold less attractive for overseas buyers. [USD/][US/]
“I think the $2,800 target is certainly achievable this week. Our expectations are that the elections are actually impeding the appetite for selling activity and therefore any catalyst for buying activity is likely to have a larger impact,” said Daniel Ghali, commodity strategist at TD Securities.
With the Nov. 5 U.S. election approaching, Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump are caught in a knife-edge battle to win over some of the more competitive states.
The market also awaits a slew of data this week, including ADP employment on Wednesday, U.S. Personal Consumption Expenditures on Thursday, and Friday’s payrolls report.
“Gold is still in a buy-on-dips mode and while some would-be investors have been looking for dips in excess of $200, they are not appearing as others are piling into corrections,” said StoneX analyst Rhona O’Connell in a note.
“While one of the key elements of geopolitical risk this year has been the plethora of elections with over half the world’s electorate having the opportunity to vote, the uncertainty will not dissipate just because the elections are over.”
Spot silver added 0.2% at $33.77 an ounce and platinum rose 1.4% to $1,036.70.
Palladium rose 1.1% to $1,206.02, after hitting a 10-month high earlier in the session on concerns over sanctions on top producer Russia.
(Reporting by Anjana Anil and Brijesh Patel in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar)
