Gold futures contracts were under pressure Monday, easing back after posting their biggest weekly climb since December.

Gold is looking for direction at present, said Jeff Wright, chief investment officer at Wolfpack Capital, with no one strong moverinfluencing or driving prices.

The short covering from last week is over for now and gold is seeking a new catalyst before moving in either direction, Wright told MarketWatch. It is also a big equities earnings week and this can lead to less interest in gold from retail traders more focused on equity markets. U.S. benchmark stock indexes moved lower in Monday dealings.

At last check, June gold was off 6.80, or 0.4, to trade at 1,773.40 an ounce, after the metal ended Friday with a weekly rise of about 2, marking its biggest weekly advance since the period ended Dec. 18, 2020, according to Dow Jones Market Data.

May silver also shed 23.5 cents, or 0.9, to 25.87 an ounce.

The 10year Treasury note was yielding 1.59, below its recent range between 1.60 and 1.75. A fall in government debt yields can boost appetite for precious metals which dont earn a coupon.

The dollar was down 0.5 at 91.147, as gauged by the ICE U.S. Dollar Index,  a measure of the buck against a halfdozen currencies.

Some strategists pointed to growing tensions between Russia and the U.S. as catalyst that could ultimately flip precious metals higher, as well as lingering concerns about COVID vaccine rollouts globally.

The Wall Street Journal reported…