Gold: eased to around $1,760 an ounce on Monday but held close to its highest levels in almost a month, as a slowing US economy prompted markets to scale back hawkish expectations from the Federal Reserve.
Data last week showed the US economy shrank for a second straight quarter, fueling recession fears and raising expectations that the Fed may need to slow down the pace of interest rate hikes.
The data was released a day after the US central bank raised its policy rate by 75 basis points in a widely expected move, with Fed Chair Jerome Powell saying that it will likely become appropriate to slow the pace of rate increases depending on the flow of data.
Meanwhile, data on Friday showed the Fed-preferred inflation measure hit the highest level since January 1982, while the monthly US jobs report due later this week will provide more clues on the Fed’s tightening path moving forward.