Gold prices steady as U.S. dollar softens on Trump interest rate comments

By Karen Rodrigues

BENGALURU (Reuters) - Gold prices were steady on Monday near their highest since July 17 as the dollar eased to its lowest in nearly two weeks after U.S. President Donald Trump criticised the Federal Reserve's interest rate tightening policy.

Spot gold was at $1,231.87 an ounce, up 0.03 percent, at 0417 GMT. The yellow metal gained 0.7 percent in the previous session.

U.S. gold futures for August delivery were 0.1 percent higher at $1,232.10 an ounce.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, was down 0.2 percent at 94.305. It fell to its weakest since July 11 earlier in the session. [USD/]

Trump on Friday reinforced his criticism of the Federal Reserve's policy on raising interest rates, saying it takes away from the United States' 'big competitive edge' and could hurt the U.S. economy.

"Comments over the weekend from Trump changed the environment somewhat, with the apparent push now to really weaken the U.S. dollar," said ANZ analyst Daniel Hynes.

The dollar has been a significant headwind for gold over the past month or so, so it opens up the possibility that we will not see that continued strength in the U.S. dollar, Hynes added.

A weaker greenback makes dollar-priced gold cheaper for buyers using other currencies.

Elsewhere, global finance leaders from the world's 20 largest economies ended a two-day weekend meeting in Buenos Aires with little consensus on how to resolve multiple disputes over U.S. tariff actions.

Trump on Friday said he was ready to impose tariffs on all $500 billion of imported goods from China, threatening to escalate a clash over trade policy that has unnerved financial markets.

Gold is usually seen as an alternative investment in times of political and economic uncertainty.

Spot gold may break a resistance at $1,237 per ounce and rise more towards the next resistance at $1,246, Reuters technical analyst Wang Tao said. [TECH/C]

Hedge funds and money managers switched to a net short position in COMEX gold contracts for the first time since 2016 in the week to July 17, U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) data showed on Friday. [CFTC/]

In other precious metals, silver was up 0.2 percent at $15.51 an ounce.

Palladium fell 0.4 percent at $890.72 an ounce and platinum was 0.3 percent lower at $823.80 an ounce.

(Reporting by Karen Rodrigues in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu and Christian Schmollinger)