Gold fell to the lowest in a month as traders booked profits after a volatile week that saw prices whipsaw in the wake of Donald Trump's presidential election win and a Federal Reserve interest-rate cut.

Bullion slumped by as much as 2.6% to $2,614.14 an ounce on Monday, the lowest intraday level since Oct. 10. That followed last week's 1.9% drop after Trump's victory spurred rallies in equity markets and the greenback. 

Strength in the S&P 500 Index and the US dollar "is frequently associated with a negative gold response as the USD is seen as moving higher for ‘good' reasons," Deutsche Bank analyst Michael Hsueh wrote in a note. 

Both speculative positioning and exchange-traded fund flows have turned less supportive, with speculative positioning having peaked in mid September and now fallen to a level similar to that in August when gold was trading around $2,400, Hsueh noted. 

Hedge fund managers have cut bullish bets on gold to a 12-week low, the latest Commodity Futures Trading Commission data show.

While gold may benefit from demand as a hedge against inflationary pressures resulting from Trump policies, Wall Street economists now see fewer Fed cuts than they did before the election, which is a negative for the metal.

Bullion has risen around 30% this year as Fed moves to ease monetary policy and heightened geopolitical and economic risks drove haven demand. It's also seen support from central bank purchases. 

Deutsche Bank's Hsueh remains bullish on gold in the long term "as the core feature of the gold rally is likely to remain in place. A higher rate of central bank accumulation is squeezing out jewelry consumption."

Spot gold declined 2.4% to $2,620.98 an ounce as of 10:15 a.m. in New York. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was was up 0.6%. Silver and palladium fell while platinum inched up.

Gold equities also tumbled, with Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd. falling as much as 6.1% and AngloGold Ashanti Plc down as much as 9%.

Source : Bloomberg