After hitting a five-month high at $1,290.60 an ounce of June Comex gold, the yellow metal ended the U.S. day session modestly down at $1,286.20 an ounce.
The previous hike was driven by a lower U.S. dollar index and geopolitical tensions following White House accusations against Russia around a recent chemical attack in Syria and HR McMaster’s declarations about America’s problems with North Korea.
However, Monday afternoon the dollar and yields picked up as did risk sentiment, following an interview with the U.S. Secretary of Treasury, Steven Mnuchin, published by The Financial Times.
Mnuchin’s expectations of a tax system reform for 2017 which, in his view, would strengthen the American currency, flipped investors’ sentiment towards the positive side and made gold slide a bit.
However, experts believe that Washington’s ongoing tensions with Pyongyang would probably support demand for the precious metal, and so the price might continue to surge this year.
May Comex silver was last down $0.104 at $18.41 an ounce.