Gold prices fell in India on Monday, according to data from India's Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX).

Gold price stood at 62,100 Indian Rupees (INR) per 10 grams, down INR 295 compared with the INR 62,395 it costed on Friday.

As for futures contracts, Gold prices decreased to INR 62,231 per 10 gms from INR 62,611 per 10 gms.

Prices for Silver futures contracts decreased to INR 72,112 per kg from INR 72,389 per kg.

Global Market Movers: Comex Gold price is pressured by uncertainty over early Fed rate cuts

• Investors further scale back their expectations for an imminent shift in the Federal Reserve's policy stance following the release of a robust December monthly US jobs report on Friday.
• The US economy added 216K new jobs last week as compared to 170K expected, while the unemployment rate held steady at 3.7% vs. consensus estimates for an uptick to 3.8%.
• Adding to this, US Factory Orders surprised to the upside and grew more than expected in November, by 2.6%, after declining 3.4% in October (revised slightly up from -3.6%).
• Separately, the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) survey indicated that the US services sector, which accounts for more than two-thirds of the economy, slumped last month.
• The ISM's Non-Manufacturing Index dropped to 50.6 in December – the lowest reading since May – and the employment sub-component plunged to 43.3 – the lowest since July 2020.
• Dallas Fed President Lorie Logan noted that if the US central bank does not maintain sufficiently tight financial conditions, there is a risk that inflation will pick back up, reversing progress.
• This comes after Richmond Fed President Thomas Barkin last week expressed confidence that the economy is on its way to a soft landing and said that rate hikes remain on the table.
• The yield on the benchmark 10-year US government bond holds steady above the 4.0% threshold, which acts as a tailwind for the US Dollar and is seen undermining the Comex Gold price.
• The markets, however, are still pricing in a greater chance of the first interest rate cut by the Fed at the March meeting and a cumulative of five 25 basis points (bps) rate cuts for 2024.
• China's economic woes, along with an escalation of tensions in the Middle East, could lend some support to the safe-haven XAU/USD ahead of the US consumer inflation figures on Thursday.
• Lebanese militant group Hezbollah sent a barrage of rockets into northern Israel in what it called a “preliminary response” to the assassination of Hamas senior leader Saleh al-Arouri on Tuesday.
• The markets react little to an agreement between House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on topline spending level, which breaks the deadlock to avoid a shutdown