Gold edges lower on slight dollar uptick

Gold prices on Monday edged lower on Monday as the dollar strengthened, while investors largely bet on the U.S. Federal Reserve hitting the brakes soon on interest rate hikes.

* Spot gold GOLD edged 0.1% lower to $1,952.58 per ounce by 0028 GMT. U.S. gold futures GOLD were down 0.4% to $1,957.20.

* The dollar edged up slightly above its April 2022 lows, making gold more expensive for holders of other currencies.

* Bullion gained 1.6% for the week to July 14, its biggest weekly rise since April, on expectations that the Fed was close to ending its monetary tightening cycle.

* Data in the U.S. last week hinted at a disinflationary trend - consumer prices grew at their slowest pace in more than two years, producer inflation saw the smallest increase in nearly three years, and consumer sentiment jumped to the highest level in nearly two years.

* Interest rate futures showed markets mostly priced in another rate hike from the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) at its July 25-26 meeting, with rate cuts seen in 2024.

* Lower interest rates decrease the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding bullion.

* However, Fed Governor Christopher Waller on Thursday said he was not ready to call an all-clear on inflation and favours rate hikes this year - the sentiment reflected in June's FOMC minutes.

* A raft of Chinese economic indicators will be released on Monday, which is expected to show the post-pandemic bounce is fizzling out, raising expectations of more stimulus measures.

* Spot silver XAGUSD1! fell 0.2% to $24.89 per ounce, while platinum PL1! and palladium XPDUSD1! fell 0.5% each to $966.88 and $1,265.07, respectively.

DATA/EVENTS (GMT)

0200 China Urban Investment (YTD) YY June

0200 China Retail Sales YY June

0200 China GDP YY Q2

0200 China Unemp Rate Urban Area June

1000 EU Reserve Assets Total June

— UK House Price Rightmove MM, YY July