Gold prices pulled back on Monday as investors positioned themselves ahead of an expected U.S. interest rate increase this week.

The precious metal fell 0.4% to $1,153.31 a troy ounce in midmorning trade in London. Other precious metals were mixed.

The prospect of the U.S. Federal Reserve hiking interest rates on Wednesday continued to hit investor sentiment in gold, which doesn't bear interest and struggles to compete when rates rise, says Dow Jones.

Traders in the market for fed-funds futures, derivatives used to bet on the timing of Fed interest-rate decisions, reflect a 100% probability of a rate rise this week, according to CME Group.

This morning the New York futures for Brent rose 5.1% to $ 57.10 and WTI rose 5.18% to $ 54.17 per barrel. Thus, the black gold is trading with a significant increase after OPEC and other oil producers were able to sign the first agreement from 2001 to jointly cut production. This was done in order to reduce excess supply and the stabilisation of the black gold market. OPEC plans to cut production by 1.2 million barrels per day from 1 January.

(raw materials / closing price /% change)

Oil 51.48 -0.04%

Gold 1,161.40 -0.04%