Gold Slump Deepens After Trump's Fed Pick

(RTTNews) - Gold traded sharply lower on Monday after suffering the biggest slide in more than a decade on Friday.

Spot gold traded down 3.3 percent at $4,702.73. after having dropped to a an intraday low of $4,402.38 earlier.

U.S. gold futures were down half a percent at $4,721.79, trimming early losses following last week's dollar-fueled collapse.

The dollar was rising amid risk-off sentiment in financial markets in the wake of President Donald Trump's nomination of Kevin Warsh as Federal Reserve Chair.

Warsh is a "hawkish leaning" banker, supporting higher interest rates in an inflationary environment.

If confirmed by the Senate, the former Fed governor will succeed Jerome Powell when his term ends in May. The U.S. president said Friday he had not asked Warsh to commit to cuts.

Traders were also reacting to comments from Trump hinting at a possible easing of tensions between Washington and Tehran.

After Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei likened the recent protests to a "coup" and warned that any U.S. attack on the Islamic Republic would trigger a regional war, Trump said he was hopeful of agreeing a deal with Iran.

n economic releases, the U.S. Labor Department's monthly jobs report along with other reports on manufacturing and service sector activity, job openings and consumer sentiment may attract investor attention this week.

The Reserve Bank of Australia, European Central Bank (ECB) and Bank of England (BoE) all convene policy meetings this week. Both the ECB and BoE are seen holding rates steady.