- Trump to announce new Federal Reserve chair this week
- Policy meetings of Federal Open Market Committee , Bank of England, and Bank of Japan due this week
Gold Coins and Credit Suisse gold barGetty Images
Gold steadied on Monday as traders stayed on the sidelines before this week's central bank meetings and policy news, including President Donald Trump's expected announcement of the next Federal Reserve chair.
The U.S. central bank kicks off a two-day policy meeting on Tuesday, while the Bank of Japan and Bank of England also meet this week to discuss interest rate policy. Gold is highly sensitive to rising rates, which increase the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding bullion. Tighter U.S. policy also boosts the dollar, in which the metal is priced.
Spot gold was up 0.22 percent at $1,275.45 an ounce, little changed from its late Friday level but well off that session's three-week low of $1,263.35.
U.S. gold futures for December delivery settled up 0.3 percent at $1,278.10 an ounce.
The metal is facing a slew of potential risks this week, Saxo Bank analyst Ole Hansen said, including the U.S. monetary policy meeting and Fed chair announcement, key jobs data on Friday and ongoing unrest over Catalonia.
"Overall you can argue that the sum of these upcoming events is gold bearish, not least considering Friday's strong read on (U.S.) growth," he said. "Funds cut back the net long for a sixth week, but it was interesting that both longs and not least short positions were cut."
