Gold Edges Higher As Fed Rate Hike Bets Ease

(RTTNews) - Gold prices traded higher on Monday, recovering from an early slide as investors trimmed bets on an aggressive policy tightening cycle by the U.S. Federal Reserve.

Spot gold edged up 0.4 percent to $4,156.74 an ounce after posting its biggest weekly decline since June. U.S. gold futures were up 0.6 percent at $4,187.30, with a stronger dollar capping potential upside.

After Friday's data showed much weaker-than-expected job growth in September and reduced expectations for a potential Federal Reserve rate hike later this month, traders now await the release of ISM Services PMI later in the day and the minutes of the September FOMC meeting on Wednesday for further direction.

The U.S. dollar index remained supported as the euro weakened to a 17-month low on worries over rising borrowing costs and political instability in France.

The French-German 10-year bond spread stood at 146.30 basis points, after having spiked to a near 15-year high on Friday.

It is anticipated that France's debt-to-GDP ratio will increase from 119 percent this year to 122 percent next year.

In geopolitical news, Saudi-backed forces in Yemen have launched a full-scale military operation to retake areas controlled by the Houthis, an Iran-backed group.

Yemen's government forces said Sunday they had struck Houthi targets in the capital Sanaa and Taiz in the southwest, deepening the conflict ravaging one of the world's poorest nations and the wider region.

The Houthis seized control of Bab el-Mandeb, a strategic chokepoint between the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. Saudi Arabia had been using this route to export oil while avoiding the Strait of Hormuz.