WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Gold prices traded lower on Monday but held about $2.500 per ounce amid optimism that cooling U.S. inflation would kick off a cycle of interest rate cuts.
A weaker dollar, heightened Middle East tensions and lingering concerns over China's property market helped limit bullion's losses to some extent.
Spot gold dipped 0.3 percent to $2,501.06 per ounce while U.S. gold futures were marginally higher at $2,539.50
The dollar began the week on a weak note after a couple of Fed officials said its time to adjust borrowing costs.
In an interview with the Financial Times published on Sunday, San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank President Mary Daly noted that it is time to consider adjusting borrowing costs.
Separately, Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee stated in a CBS interview that maintaining high rates for too long might create a problem on the employment side of the Fed's mandate.
Investors now look ahead to the release of minutes from the Fed's most recent meeting on Wednesday and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's Jackson Hole, Wyoming, speech on Friday, for more clarity on the possibility of easing in September.
On the geopolitical front, the U.S. is pushing for a deal between Israel and Hamas to end the war on Gaza, calling it 'maybe the last opportunity to get the hostages home'.
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