• Gold futures on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange fell on Monday as the U.S. dollar strengthened and traders continued to price in a possible Fed rate hike.
• The most active gold contract for April delivery fell 1 U.S. dollars, or 0.08 percent, to settle at 1,225.50dollars per ounce.
• According to the CME Group's Fedwatch tool, the current implied probability of a hike from 0.50 to at least 0.75 is at 86 percent at the March meeting and 80 percent for the May meeting, along with a 7 percent chance of an increase to a 1.0 rate.
• Gold prices edged lower on an uptick in the dollar on Tuesday, hovering above the two-week low hit on Friday amid signals of a hike in U.S. interest rates this month.
• Holdings of the SPDR Gold Trust (GLD), the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, fell 0.45percent to 836.77 tonnes on Monday.
• Spot gold XAU= fell 0.1 percent, to $1,224.86 per ounce at 0029 GMT. The metal hit $1,222.51, the lowest since Feb. 15, on Friday.
• Market participants will be closely eyeing the U.S. monthly jobs report on Friday, which includes the non-farm payrolls, seen rising by 190,000 in a Reuters poll. ECONUS
• The market will also await monetary policy decisions from the European Central Bank. The ECB will stay in the background through upcoming elections in key European countries and is only likely to signal a shift away from its ultra-easy monetary policy toward the end of this year or early next, a Reuters poll found.
• Silver for May delivery rose 3.3 cents, or 0.19 percent, to close at 17.773 dollars per ounce.
Reference: Xinhua, Reuters
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