Gold futures headed lower on Monday, with strength in the U.S. stock market led by gains in technology stocks, prompting prices for the metal to ease back after settling last week at their highest since late February.

A collapse in the Turkish lira, meanwhile, also contributed to losses for gold, with the weaker currency likely to dull gold demand from Turkey, analysts said. A report from the World Gold Council in January showed that Turkey was the biggest annual gold buyer in 2020, adding 134.5 metric tons to its official gold reserves.

Against the backdrop, gold for April delivery fell 9.20, or 0.5, to trade at 1,732.50 an ounce, after prices saw a 1.3 weekly rise put in on Fridaythe second weekly gain in a row. Prices on Friday also finished at the highest for a mostactive contract finish since Feb. 25.

Bullions move lower to start the week comes even as U.S. Treasury yields and the dollar are staging a modest pullback that would ordinarily offer a runway for gold prices.

The 10year Treasury note was down at around 1.679, compared with 1.729 on Friday, while one measure of the dollar was off 0.1, as measured by the ICE U.S. Dollar Index.

Commodity experts speculated that gold prices were facing selling pressure, nonetheless, because investors were favoring equities as the rise in bond yields appeared to stabilize somewhat. The technologyheavy Nasdaq Composite Index led on Monday.

Gold and silver prices were pressured by some fresh chartbased selling and by global…