Gold dips despite bets on interest hikes halt ‎

Gold fell in limited trading today, Monday, with the rise of the dollar, supported by a strong report on jobs, which outweighed the impact of the possibility of the Federal Reserve stopping raising interest rates this month.

According to Reuters, gold fell in spot transactions by 0.1 percent, recording $ 1945.09 an ounce, by 0545 GMT, and was trading in a range of seven dollars. Prices are hovering near their lowest levels since May 30

US gold futures fell 0.5 percent to $1,959.80 an ounce.

Gold prices fell by more than 1 percent on Friday, after data showed that non-farm payrolls in the United States increased by 339,000 jobs last month, exceeding the 190,000 expected by economists polled by Reuters. But the unemployment rate rose to a seven-month high of 3.7 percent, after hitting a 53-year low in April at 3.4 percent.

The higher unemployment reading prompted markets to expect a 78.2 percent chance that the US central bank will leave interest rates unchanged at a meeting on June 13-14.

Raising interest rates reduces the attractiveness of gold, which does not yield a return

The dollar index rose 0.1 percent, making dollar-denominated gold more expensive for holders of other currencies

As for other precious metals, silver fell in spot transactions by 0.2 percent to $ 23.54 an ounce, and platinum rose 0.5 percent to $ 1008.07, while palladium settled at $ 1420.10.