WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Gold prices drifted lower on Monday as the dollar pushed higher against its peers and investors awaited cues from a series of upcoming Treasury auctions.
Spot gold fell 0.8 percent to $1,732.01 per ounce, after having risen half a percent on Friday. U.S. gold futures were down 0.6 percent at $1,730.95.
The U.S. dollar held near a four-month high after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ousted central bank Chief Naci Agbal for hiking interest rate to contain double-digit inflation.
The move came two days after the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey hiked its benchmark policy rate by 200 basis points to 19 percent to tame its high inflation rate.
In a statement on Sunday, the central bank said it 'will continue to use the monetary policy tools effectively in line with its main objective of achieving a permanent fall in inflation'.
Investors also await speeches from a host of Fed officials, including three appearances by Chair Jerome Powell this week for more clues about the magnitude and length of policy tightening.
Powell on Friday reiterated in a Wall Street Journal editorial that while the U.S. economic outlook is 'brightening,' the recovery is 'far from complete'.
Richmond Fed President Thomas Barkin said in a Bloomberg TV interview Sunday that there is no sign yet of unwanted inflation pressures.
This week's U.S. economic calendar includes reports on new and existing home sales, durable goods orders, and personal income and spending.
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