Gold lingers three-week low

Reuters

Bengaluru

Gold was steady on Monday as the dollar eased and Asian stocks firmed, with the metal holding near three-week lows on growing expectations the U.S. Federal Reserve will hike interest rates as early as June.

Bullion has been under pressure since the Fed last week released the minutes of its April meeting, which showed officials believe the U.S. economy could be ready for another interest rate increase next month.

Echoing those sentiments, Eric Rosengren, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston said on Friday that conditions for a rate increase are "on the verge of broadly being met".

Gold is sensitive to interest rates, gains in which raise the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding bullion.

Spot gold was down 0.1 percent at $1,250.60 per ounce at 0644 GMT, still close to $1,244 touched last week, the lowest since April 28. U.S. gold futures dipped 0.1 percent to $1,251.20.