At a two-month low gold, a drop of more than 10% in palladium

In deep red, gold traded lower on Monday, slipping to near a two-month low as the strengthening of the US dollar put pressure on the prices of the precious metal.

The US currency continues to gain momentum from estimates that the Federal Reserve will move in the coming months to an aggressive tightening of its monetary policy in order to face the inflation rally to a high of 40 years. Last week, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell did not appear to rule out a 50 basis point increase in US interest rates – instead of the traditional 25 basis point increase. – at the next monetary policy meeting of the bank in May.

The ICE US Dollar Index, which tracks the course of the currency against a basket of six of its main competitors, gains 0.5% to 101.73 having climbed to the highest level since March 2020 at 101.86.

On the other hand, the June delivery of gold lost $ 38.30 or 2% and closed at $ 1,896 per ounce. This is the lowest level since February 25.

The rest of the metals also suffered heavy losses as the expansion of lockdowns in China makes it much more likely that the Chinese economy will slow down, affecting global demand.

May silver lost 59 cents, or 2.4%, to $ 23.67 an ounce. This is the lowest level since February 16. July copper, meanwhile, fell 2.8 percent to $ 4,472 a pound.

As for the rest of the metals, platinum in July lost 2.4% to $ 905 per ounce, while palladium in June fell 10.7% to $ 2,122.10 per ounce.