Gold Prices Weaken Ahead of Fed Meeting Amid Hawkish Sentiment

Gold prices are under pressure ahead of the Federal Reserve's monetary policy meeting, which starts later today. The precious metal is trading at $4,047.22, down from its recent high above $4,100, as sellers remain in control.

The Greenback staged a strong comeback on Monday, with markets pricing in a 38% chance of a 25-basis-point Fed rate hike this week, up from 16% seen last week.

This hawkish sentiment is offsetting the optimism sparked by easing oil prices and inflation fears, following a pause in the US-Iran conflict. The persistent expectation of higher interest rates is keeping front-end US Treasury bond yields and the dollar strong, at the expense of non-yielding assets like gold.