Gold Slumps Amid Increase In The Value Of The U.S. Dollar

(RTTNews) - The price of gold showed a notable move to the downside on Monday as trading resumed following the long Easter weekend.

Gold for June delivery slumped $22.60 to $2,003.80 an ounce, closing lower for the third consecutive session.

The steep drop by the price of the precious metal came amid an increase in the value of the U.S. dollar, with the U.S. dollar index climbing by 0.5 percent.

The dollar has moved higher as the Labor Department's closely watched monthly jobs report report showed employment in the U.S. increased roughly in line with economist estimates in the month of March.

The report said non-farm payroll employment climbed by 236,000 jobs in March after jumping by an upwardly revised 326,000 jobs in February.

Economists had expected employment to rise by about 240,000 jobs compared to the addition of 311,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.

Meanwhile, the Labor Department said the unemployment rate edged down to 3.5 percent in March from 3.6 percent in February. The unemployment rate was expected to be unchanged.

On the heels of the report, CME Group's FedWatch Tool is currently indicating a 69.7 percent chance the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates by a quarter point next month.

Traders were also looking ahead to key inflation data later in the week along with reports on retail sales and industrial production as well as the minutes of the latest Federal Reserve meeting.