Investing.com - Gold prices drifted lower on Monday, pulling away from the $1,300 handle reached on the back of a weak jobs report, while investors looked ahead to retail sales data and U.S. President Donald Trump’s 2020 budget proposal.
At 7:49 AM ET (11:49 GMT), gold futures for April delivery on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange were up $4.55, or 0.35%, at $1,294.75 a troy ounce.
Gold briefly breached the psychological level of $1,300 on Friday after the U.S. Labor Department reported a 20,000-job increase in nonfarm payrolls last month, far fewer than the consensus forecast of 180,000. However, it was unable to hold above that level for the close and fell short of the mark again on Monday, with an intraday high of $1,299.15.
Markets will turn their attention Monday to the latest reading on U.S. retail sales, which are expected to hold steady in January after an unexpectedly sharp drop at the end of 2018. The data will be released at 8:30 AM ET (12:30 GMT).
Also scheduled for release at 11:30 AM ET (15:30 GMT), Trump is expected to present his 2020 budget proposal. According to reports, Trump will seek a 5% cut in non-defense spending as well as request an additional $8.6 billion in funds to help pay for the construction of a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border.
Inflation figures will also be closely watched this week after the Federal Reserve vowed to be “patient” and await incoming data before raising interest rates again. Data on U.S. consumer and producer prices are set to be released on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively.
Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell said on Sunday that the central bank is not in any hurry to change interest rate levels as it keeps watch over the global economy.
In an interview with CBS’s 60 Minutes, Powell said that current levels are “appropriate” and “roughly neutral”.
“I would say there’s no reason why this economy cannot continue to expand,” he added.
Other key economic reports in focus this week include U.S. new home sales and durable goods.
In other metals trading, silver futures dropped 0.30% to $15.303 a troy ounce by 7:51 AM ET (11:51 GMT).
Palladium futures traded up 0.97% to $1,473.10 an ounce, while sister metal platinum lost 0.29% at $815.20.
In base metals, copper advanced 0.19% to $2.899 a pound.