Gold futures settle with a modest loss

Gold futures settled slightly lower on Monday, pressured by a rise in U.S. Treasury yields, but with some weakness in the U.S. dollar limiting losses for the precious metal. Monthly U.S. jobs data due at the end of the week may provide clues on gold’s next direction. A lower U.S. August nonfarm payrolls number of around 125,000 jobs would be bullish for gold prices and bearish for the U.S. dollar index and bond yields, said Chintan Karnani, director of research at Insignia Consultants. That number would suggest that interest-rate hikes are cooling the U.S. economy, paving the way for a 50 basis point rate hike in September and a pause in hikes in November, he said. December gold fell by a dime to settle at $1,749.70 an ounce after trading as high as $1,757.90 during the session.

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