Investing.com - Gold prices dipped in Asia on Monday as investors took remarks at the end of last week by Fed chair Janet Yellen as largely consistent with a data-driven decision on the timing of any interest rate hike.
Gold for December delivery on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange fell 0.18% to $1,323.55 a troy ounce.
Also on the Comex, silver futures for September delivery dipped 0.54% to $18.550 a troy ounce. Copper futures for September delivery efell 0.26% to $2.079 a pound.
This week, nonfarm payrolls data from the U.S. in the spotlight along with data on China's manufacturing sector, amid ongoing concerns over the health of the world's second biggest economy. Markets in the U.K. are closed on Monday.
Last week, gold prices flipped between gains and losses on Friday, before ending little changed as markets assessed the likelihood of an interest rate hike at the next Federal Reserve meeting September, following comments from the top two officials at the central bank.
Despite Friday's modest gains, the yellow metal ended with a weekly loss of $20.30, or 1.5%, the biggest decline since mid-July.
During a much-awaited speech at the Fed's Jackson Hole symposium Friday, Yellen said the case for U.S. interest rate hikes has “strengthened” in recent months due to improvements in the labor market and to expectations for solid economic growth.
However, she did not indicate when the Fed would act, saying that higher interest rates will depend on incoming economic data.
Speaking shortly afterwards, Fed Vice Chair Stanley Fischer said Yellen’s speech was “consistent” with expectations for possibly two more rate hikes this year, opening the door to a September hike. Fischer, the Fed's No. 2 policymaker, said the Labor Department's jobs report for August will likely weigh on the decision over a hike.
According to Investing.com's Fed Rate Monitor Tool, investors are pricing in a 33% chance of a rate hike by September.
The precious metal is sensitive to moves in U.S. rates, which lift the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding assets such as bullion, while boosting the dollar in which it is priced.