Investing.com -- Gold prices fell Monday, extending losses from last week as the dollar remained strong and risk appetite healthy in the wake of Donald Trump’s victory in the 2024 presidential election.
At 3.00 p.m. ET (2000 GMT), spot gold fell 2.4% to $2,619.89 an ounce, while gold futures fell 2.5% to $2,626.45 an ounce.
Gold slumps from record highs
Gold prices were nursing a tumble from record highs over the past week, with a bulk of losses coming after Trump’s election victory.
His victory cleared a main point of uncertainty for markets, which had also been a major source of safe haven demand for gold.
Trump is expected to enact more expansionary policies in his second term, heralding a potential increase in inflation and keeping interest rates relatively high in the long term.
This resulted in the dollar strengthening even after the Fed cut interest rates by 25 basis points last week, flagging a cautious approach to further easing.
The focus this week is on the latest US inflation data, with the October consumer price index inflation set to offer more cues on whether inflation is cooling in line with the Fed’s expectations.
A slew of Fed officials are also set to speak in the week, offering up more cues on monetary policy.
Other precious metals were mixed on Monday (NASDAQ:MNDY). Platinum futures fell 1.1% to $968.20 an ounce, while silver futures fell 2.2% to $30.747 an ounce.
Copper weakens as China stimulus underwhelms
Among industrial metals, copper prices nursed steep losses as new fiscal measures from China, the world’s biggest copper importer, largely underwhelmed.
Benchmark copper futures on the London Metal Exchange fell 1.4% to $9,305.00 a ton, while December copper futures fell 1.6% to $4.2385 a pound.
China’s National People’s Congress approved about 10 trillion yuan ($1.4 trillion) in new debt measures, aimed at aiding local governments.
But the move disappointed investors hoping for more targeted fiscal stimulus, especially as data over the weekend showed Chinese deflation worsened in October.
"After Trump’s win in the presidential election, markets were hoping for a larger-than-expected stimulus," said analysts at ING, in a note.
"However, our China economist thinks there may be more to come once policymakers have more clarity on what a new Trump administration may do next year. Chinese policy provides an upside risk to our industrial metals outlook, depending on the strength and the speed of the rollout of measures."
(Ambar Warrick contributed to this article.)