Gold prices held near key support levels amid markets' desire to determine the future course of U.S. monetary policy for the coming months.
On Thursday, the minutes of the Federal Reserve's previous meeting will be published, which is likely to describe in more detail how the central bank's management intends to proceed with interest rate hikes.
Markets are assessing the possibility of a rate hike in December as relatively low after the slowdown in inflation in recent months. However, recent statements from Federal Reserve members suggest that interest rates may continue to rise for a longer period of time than anticipated.
According to Investing.com, this outlook is favorable for the dollar and Treasury yields and is likely to put pressure on metals markets.
A series of steep Fed rate hikes this year has had a significant impact on metals markets as rising yields have reduced the attractiveness of low-yielding assets such as gold.
And while metals markets rallied earlier this month due to signs of easing inflation in the U.S., pressure is expected to persist in the coming months as inflation remains well above the Fed's annual target of 2%.