CHICAGO, July 8 (Xinhua) -- Gold futures on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange settled slightly lower on Monday under the pressure of a strengthening U.S. dollar.
The most active gold contract for August delivery went down 0.10 dollar, or 0.01 percent, holding at 1,400.00 U.S. dollars per ounce.
A stronger-than-expected U.S. jobs report released last Friday supported the dollar. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics said that U.S. employers added 224,000 jobs in June, higher than 165,000 estimated by many economists.
The upbeat job data dulled expectations for aggressive interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve and in turn strengthened the U.S. dollar, said market analysts.
The U.S. dollar index, a gauge of the greenback against a basket of other major currencies, rose 0.07 percent to 97.35 shortly before Monday's settlement of gold futures.
When the dollar rises, gold futures will fall as gold, priced in the dollar, becomes more expensive for investors holding other currencies.
However, the downtrend of New York stock benchmarks curbed the fall of gold, as the Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite Index decreased on Monday.
As for other precious metals, silver for September delivery was up 4.9 cents, or 0.33 percent to close at 15.05 dollars per ounce. Platinum for October delivery was up 9.00 dollars, or 1.11 percent, to settle at 820.40 dollars per ounce. Enditem
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