Investing.com - Gold prices generally lost ground in Asia on Tuesday, giving up some gains from Monday, with Tokyo gold standing out as the sole gainer.
Gold futures for August delivery edged down 0.13% to $1,211.60%, giving up some gains from the day before. In Tokyo, the June 2018 contract gained 0.23% to JPY4,442 ($38.91) a gram.
In the week ahead, investors will focus on Fed Chair Janet Yellen's testimony on monetary policy as well as U.S. data on inflation and retail sales, due out on Friday, and trade data from China on Thursday. A hawkish outlook from the Fed could send gold further down to test multi-month lows.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenbackís strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was up 0.08% to 96.10. The gold U.S. dollar index was down 0.17% to 1,212.26
Gold and the dollar typically move in opposite directions, which means if the dollar goes up, gold futures, which are denominated in the U.S. currency, will drop.
Last week, gold prices dropped to almost four-month lows on Friday after a stronger-than-forecast U.S. jobs report boosted the dollar against a basket of the other major currencies. The U.S. economy added 222,000 jobs last month the Labor Department reported, more than the 179,000 new jobs expected by economists. The rapid pace of jobs growth reassured investors that the economy is on a strong enough footing to justify the Federal Reserve's plans to raise interest rates once more this year.
The Fed hiked rates at its June meeting and stuck to its forecast for one more rate hike this year, but the subdued inflation outlook has raised doubts over whether officials will be able to stick to their planned tightening path.
Gold is highly sensitive to rising rates, which lift the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding assets such as bullion, while boosting the dollar.