Gold falls on rising odds of Fed rate hike, stronger dollar

Analysts at TD Securities said they anticipate "any near-term weakness in the precious metals market would be contained to only modest Commodity Trading Advisor selling, and would increasingly be seen as a buying opportunity for the yellow metal."

Spot silver XAG= eased 0.4% to $65.99, platinum XPT= gained 0.3% to $1,805.83, while palladium XPD= was up 0.4% at $1,307.33.

Gold prices fell on Monday as expectations of further policy tightening by the US Federal Reserve this year and hawkish signals from other major central banks strengthened the dollar.

Spot gold XAU= was down 0.6% at $4,349.94 per ounce by 2:30 a.m. ET (1830 GMT), after falling more than 1% to a session low of $4,322.19 earlier. US gold futures GCcv1 settled 0.9% lower at $4,383.90.

The dollar edged higher against six major peers, extending gains after the Fed's rate hike drove it up more than 1% last week. A stronger greenback makes bullion more expensive for holders of other currencies.

"We are seeing some lingering concerns among the bulls about tighter US monetary policy, which has pushed the US dollar index to a more than two-month high on Friday. Those bearish elements are working against the precious metals," said Jim Wyckoff, a market analyst at American Gold Exchange.

Traders are pricing in an 88% chance of a US rate hike in December, according to the CME FedWatch Tool.

Bullion is traditionally considered an inflation hedge, but loses its appeal to yield-bearing assets in a high interest rate environment.

The US-Israeli war with Iran has pushed up energy prices, raising inflation concerns and reinforcing restrictive policy stances by central banks, leaving gold down 17% from its session high on February 27.