Investing.com - Gold prices tumbled on Monday, falling below $1,500 an ounce as the U.S. dollar strengthened and a demand for U.S. equities pushed investment away from bullion.
Comex gold futures for December delivery tumbled 1.1% to $1,490.05 an ounce by 10:49 AM ET (14:49 GMT).
Gold was pushed lower by the rise in the greenback, which rose on trade optimism after the White House said it was not looking to de-list Chinese companies on U.S. stock exchanges.
Treasury spokeswoman Monica Crowley told Bloomberg news on Saturday that “the administration is not contemplating blocking Chinese companies from listing shares on U.S. stock exchanges at this time,” while White House trade adviser Peter Navarro dismissed the reports on Monday as "fake news."
However, officials failed to deny or confirm other possible measures that would limit Chinese firms access to the American stock market and limit Americans from being able to list Chinese companies on stock indexes controlled by U.S. firms.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a basket of six major currencies, was up 0.2% to 98.955.
Gold usually falls as the dollar rises, as it is denominated in the U.S. currency and is sensitive to moves in the dollar. Bullion becomes more expensive for holders of other currencies when the dollar rises and cheaper when it falls.
Elsewhere, silver futures declined 2.4% to $17.233 a troy ounce and copper futures inched down 0.3% to $2.591 a pound. Among other precious metals, platinum was down 3.7% to $902.00 while palladium slipped 0.9% to $1,637.85 an ounce.