At 8:28 a.m. in Singapore, spot gold was down 0.1% at $4,425.37 per ounce, holding near flat after the prior session's 1% drop. Silver was little changed at $66.24. Platinum moved lower, whereas palladium posted a small gain.
After advancing 0.1% on Friday, the Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index eased slightly. A firmer dollar often makes dollar-priced bullion pricier for many buyers. With gold back below its 200-day moving average and not offering yield, rising rates tend to be a headwind.
Payroll growth jumped in August while the unemployment rate held steady, strengthening the case for a rate increase at the Federal Reserve's Sept. 15-16 meeting. Traders now put the odds of a September move at about 60%.
Geopolitics added fuel to the mix. The flare-up revived concern about energy flows from the region. Oil advanced, with Brent crude near $97 a barrel.
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After rebounding from a floor near $4,000 in July, bullion has mostly moved in a tight band, flipping around $4,400 last week as investors kept reassessing the Fed path. New consumer price figures arriving later this week should provide further signals about the central bank's next move.
In Melbourne, Vantage Markets senior analyst Hebe Chen said, "Gold is being pulled into the heart of another macro storm." "Surging oil prices, elevated Treasury yields and an increasingly stronger Fed-hike case after Friday's robust jobs report are bringing back the familiar headwinds," she added. "Another firm PPI or CPI print could reinforce the renewed tightening story, crack that $4,400 defense and deepen the downside move," Chen said. "Softer inflation could temporarily take some pressure off gold, but at this stage it may prove more of a reprieve than a reset."
