Gold at its lowest level in 4 weeks

Gold prices fell on Monday to a four-week low, as bets on the Federal Reserve’s inclination to tighten monetary policy boosted the dollar’s strength and dampened demand for bullion.

And the price of gold in spot transactions fell 0.7 percent to $ 1916.41 an ounce by 0545 GMT, after touching its lowest level since March 29 at $ 1914.58.

And US gold futures fell 0.9 percent to $ 1917.40 an ounce.

Amid expectations of a half percentage point rate hike at the Fed’s meeting in May, traders bet on Friday that the US central bank would raise interest rates further in the following months.

The dollar has settled near a two-year high, making gold priced in US dollars more expensive for holders of other currencies.

As for other precious metals, silver fell in spot transactions 1.7 percent to $23.73 an ounce, its biggest drop in more than two months.

Platinum fell 0.8 percent to $923 an ounce, its lowest since mid-December, and palladium fell 3.1 percent to $2,302.19.