Gold Ends Lower Ahead Of Fed Meet

(RTTNews) - Gold futures ended lower for a second straight session Monday, ahead of the Federal Reserve's policy meet minutes with waning safe haven appeal for the precious metal, even as investors remain focused on this week's closely-watched Federal Reserve meeting.

Although the Federal Reserve members are not expected to hike rates quite yet, markets will be watching for any forward guidance on when the tightening will begin. With the Fed on track to hike rates in either April or June, political turmoil in Europe has failed to give gold much of a boost.

Investors also remain concerned over the developing situation in Greece with the anti-austerity party Syriza clinching a decisive majority in the general elections Sunday. Investors are also focused on

The left wing Syriza party secured a majority in the general elections held on Sunday, with its leader Alexis Tsipras announcing that he has formed a coalition government with the right wing Independent Greeks party.

With the anti-austerity party in control of the country, concerns over the potential outcome of debt re-negotiations persisted. A Greek exit of the eurozone remains a very real possibility.

Gold for February delivery, the most actively traded contract, dropped $13.20 or 1.0 percent, to settle at $1,279.40 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange on Monday.

Gold for February delivery scaled an intraday high of $1,299.20 and a low of $1,275.60 an ounce.

On Friday, gold ended slightly lower on Friday, after some mixed global economic data with the dollar trending sharply higher, even as the euro slipped significantly after the European Central Bank announced a massive, larger than expected monetary stimulus the day before.

Holdings of SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, inched up slightly to 741.65 tons on Monday from its previous close of 740.45 tons.

The dollar index, which tracks the U.S. unit against six major currencies, traded at 94.68 on Monday, down from its previous close of 95.48 late Friday in North American trade. The dollar scaled a high of 95.33 intraday and a low of 94.59.

The euro trended higher against the dollar at $1.1274 on Monday, as compared to its previous close of $1.1206 late Friday in North American trade. The euro scaled a high of $1.1296 intraday and a low of $1.1153.

On the economic front, German business confidence improved for a third straight month in January to a six-month high as expectations of firms and current assessment brightened during the month, results of the IfO business climate survey showed Monday. The business confidence index rose to 106.7 in January from 105.5 in December, exceeding the 106.4 reading expected by economists. It was the highest score since July 2014.

Investors will be focused on a number of important U.S. economic reports this week, including durable goods orders for December, consumer confidence for January, both on Tuesday, and consumer sentiment for January.

The advance reading on fourth quarter GDP is slated for Friday. Economists expect the economy to expand at an annual rate of about 3 percent, down from the robust 5 percent rate in the third quarter.