Investing.com – Metal prices were mixed Monday as gold remained flat despite a retreat in the greenback ahead of the Federal Reserve's monetary policy decision due later this week.
Gold futures for August delivery on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange fell by $.080, or 0.07%, to $1,222.10 a troy ounce, but remained just below an intraday high of $1,218.10.
Gold traded in a tight range, struggling to take advantage of a weaker greenback ahead of the Federal Open Market Committee decision (FOMC) expected Wednesday, which analysts expect will likely be "non-event."
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, fell by 0.40% to 94.07.
"Wednesday's FOMC meeting is going to be a non-event as the Committee is not expected to raise rates or alter the balance sheet normalization schedule next week, though there's a risk of a change in language contained within the statement," BMO said last week.
According to Investing.com's Fed Rate Monitor Tool, 96.9% of traders expect the Federal Reserve to stand pat on interest rates.
Gold is sensitive to moves higher in both bond yields and the U.S. dollar. A stronger dollar makes gold more expensive for holders of foreign currency, while a rise in U.S. rates lifts the opportunity cost of holding gold as it pays no interest.
Gold has lost 8% in the last three months and 11% from 2018 high as sentiment on the yellow metal has soured. Analysts continued to increase their bearish bets on gold, according to the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission CoT data.
CFTC COT data showed money managers reduced their net long positions in gold futures to 48,600 lots from 57,800 lots for the week ended July 27.
The wider metal markets, however, capitalized on the weaker dollar as aluminum and prices rose sharply.
Copper prices fell 0.18% to $2.80, while zinc prices fell 1.23% at 2,557.25.
Aluminium prices rose 1.14% to 2,084.50, while Nickel futures rose 0.82% to 13,895.00.
Silver futures rose 0.24% to $15.53 a troy ounce, while platinum futures fell 0.01% to $831.60.