Spot gold fell 1 last week, biggest weekly decline in six
Depth of cuts in 2024 seen at 132 bps vs 150 bps two weeks ago
U.S. PMI data and GDP advance estimate due this week

Jan 22 Reuters Gold prices fell on Monday as traders dialled back expectations for rapid interest rate cuts, while improved risk sentiment ahead of key U.S. economic data and major central bank policy meetings this week also weighed on the safehaven asset.

Spot gold was down 0.4 at 2,022.28 per ounce, as of 0639 GMT.

U.S. gold futures fell 0.3 to 2,023.80.

Gold prices seem to be capped by lower expectations for Fed39;s rate cut in March. Still, geopolitical uncertainty in the Middle East especially around the Red Sea route has kept gold supported above 2,015, said Kelvin Wong, a senior market analyst for Asia Pacific at OANDA.

Japanese shares led U.S. and European futures higher on Monday as AI hype juiced up the tech sector ahead of a week brimming with central bank meetings, major economic data and corporate earnings.

Other safehaven assets weakened, with the U.S. dollar index falling 0.1 to nearly a week low, while yields on benchmark U.S. 10year Treasury notes slipped from a more than a month high to 4.1148.

Bullion fell about 1 last week its biggest weekly decline in six after Fed officials said it needs more inflation data in hand before any rate cut judgment could be made and that the baseline for cuts to start was in the third quarter.

Traders priced in 132 basis points bps of…