The Dollar Index hovers at a much-week low, further strengthening the attractiveness of USD-denominated gold to holders of other currencies. The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield also hit its lowest level in more than a week.
The market focus is on European and American trade negotiations. EU diplomats said that due to limited progress in consultation with Washington, the European side is considering implementing broader countermeasures against the United States.
In terms of monetary policy, the European Central Bank will hold a meeting on Thursday (24th). The market expects interest rates to remain unchanged at 2.0% after the meeting, ending the previous series of interest rate cuts. The Fed will hold a policy meeting next week, and traders expect the probability of the Fed's interest rate cut in September is about 59%, and gold usually performs well in a low-interest rate environment.
In other precious metals, spot silver rose 0.1% to $38.93, platinum rose 0.4% to $1,444.05, and palladium fell slightly by 0.2% to $1,262.35.
On Tuesday (July 22), spot gold was $3,390.73 per ounce (about S$4,344), and it once hit its highest level since June 17 during the session, with US gold futures firming at $3,404.2.
As investors closely monitor the progress of trade negotiations before the US tariff deadline on August 1, risk aversion sentiment heated up, the US dollar and U.S. Treasury yields weakened, and spot gold rose to its highest level in more than a month.
The world's largest gold-listed fund, SPDR Gold-listed Fund (SPDR Gold Trust), held gold on Monday (21st), rose 0.36% to 947.06 tons, the largest single-day increase in the past two weeks. China's gold imports fell to 63 tons in June, the lowest level this year.