Gold prices fell in Asian trade on Monday, as the dollar gained on expectations that the United States' economy will expand further after the Senate passed a Bill to overhaul the country's tax system.
The Senate had narrowly approved the overhaul on Saturday, moving the Republican Party and US President Donald Trump a big step closer to their goal of slashing taxes for businesses and the rich while offering everyday Americans a mixed bag of changes.
The dollar rebounded to a two-week high on Monday after taking a brief hit on Friday on news that Michael Flynn, former national security adviser to Trump, had pleaded guilty to lying to the US Federal Bureau of Investigation about his contacts with Russia.
“Bullion is likely to be sensitive to dollar flows, tracking headlines generated by the FBI probe and any further tax reform-related news as we head towards US non-farm payrolls at the end of the week,” MKS PAMP trader Sam Laughlin said in a note.
Spot gold was down 0.6 per cent at $1,272.91 an ounce, as of 0735 GMT, after touching a high of $1289.50 on Friday. US gold futures were down 0.5 per cent at $1,275.80 an ounce.
“I think people will be disappointed that gold had that race up to $1290 area on Friday and we're sitting at $1275...any kind of rally gold has just seems to be unsustainable for the short-term” said a Hong Kong-based gold trader.
“Whatever is happening to the dollar and the yield curve, you've got to be watching that,” the trader said.
Fed rate hike
Two Federal Reserve policymakers had urged caution in raising interest rates on Friday, saying that the flattening of the yield curve was a signal that the central bank should proceed slowly. The US central bank is widely expected to raise benchmark interest rates for the third time this year at its meeting next week.
Higher rates tend to boost the dollar, making the greenback-denominated gold more expensive for buyers using other currencies.
Joint aerial drills
Meanwhile, investors also kept a keen eye on developments surrounding North Korea, with South Korea and the US launching their largest-ever joint aerial drills on Monday, days after the North tested its most advanced intercontinental ballistic missile.
Reuters technicals analyst Wang Tao said spot gold may break a support at $1,272 per ounce and fall more towards the next support at $1,263.35.
Speculators raised their net-long positions in COMEX gold in the week to November 28, US data showed on Friday.
In other precious metals, silver slipped 0.7 per cent to $16.32 an ounce. Platinum was 0.4 per cent lower at $933.50 an ounce, while palladium was little changed at $1,019.40.