Dollar Weighs on Gold as Prices Fall

By Alistair MacDonald and Nicole Friedman 

Gold settled lower on Monday as a higher dollar weighed on the precious metal and some investors took profits after recent gains.

Gold for April delivery settled down 0.8% to $1,244.20 a troy ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, according to CME Group Inc. The WSJ Dollar Index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of other currencies, recently rose nearly 0.2%. A stronger dollar makes gold more expensive for holders of other currencies.

Gold is also being sold as some investors take profits. Several brokers, including J.P. Morgan, have recently told their clients to sell after a gain of more than 2% on Wednesday following the Federal Open Market Committee meeting.

Still, many analysts remain bullish on gold. The FOMC highlighted increased inflationary pressure in the U.S., and gold has historically been used as a hedge against rising inflation. While inflation remains low in Japan and Europe, gold tends to react more to U.S. data.

Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond President Jeffrey Lacker said Monday that he is confident weak inflation would begin to tick "significantly" higher soon.

In other markets, silver futures recently rose 0.3% to $15.86 a troy ounce, platinum futures rose 1% to $980.70 a troy ounce, and palladium gained 2% to $602.15 a troy ounce, according to FactSet data.

Michael S. Derby and Mike Cherney contributed to this article.

Write to Alistair MacDonald at [e-mail] and Nicole Friedman at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 21, 2016 14:56 ET (18:56 GMT)

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