Gold slid over 1% in early Asian trade on Monday, as fears of the Strait of Hormuz closure drove oil prices sharply higher, reviving expectations of elevated interest rates to combat inflationary pressures.
FUNDAMENTALS
Spot gold dropped 1.2% to $4,072.78 per ounce by 0050 GMT. U.S. gold futures for August delivery were down 0.8% at $4,081.70.
U.S. and Iranian forces have exchanged heavy missile and drone assaults, with Tehran targeting U.S. facilities in states across the Gulf on Sunday and saying it had again closed the vital Strait of Hormuz.
Oil prices jumped about 4%, the dollar climbed and share markets slipped in Asia as fighting intensified in the Gulf.
Kevin Warsh's first semiannual testimony before Congress as Federal Reserve chair, along with a slate of key U.S. economic data including June CPI, PPI and retail sales, will be closely watched this week for fresh clues on the economy, inflation and the monetary policy outlook.
U.S. inflation "stepped up further this spring" as the evolving impact of tariffs, a war-related rise in energy costs, and the booming artificial intelligence buildout boosted price pressures that took root last year, the Fed said on Friday in a monetary policy report to Congress.
COMEX gold speculators cut net long positions by 1,964 contracts to 114,854 in the week to July 7, data showed on Friday.
Gold traded at a wide discount in India last week as price volatility weighed, while demand in China remained steady with the country's central bank reporting its largest monthly increase in gold reserves in more than 2-1/2 years in June.
Burkina Faso awarded an industrial mining permit to state-owned miner SOPAMIB for the Bouboulou gold project, according to a statement.
Elsewhere, spot silver declined 1.6% to $58.89 per ounce, platinum shed 1.1% to $1,610.22 and palladium fell 1.3% to $1,260.15.
