Gold pares the weakness from the previous week as the Federal Reserve comes under increased pressure to keep the benchmark interest rate on hold, with prices for bullion eyeing the monthly-high ($1251) as the Relative Strength Index (RSI) clings to the bullish formation carried over from the previous month.

There appears to be growing interest surrounding the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) interest rate decision on December 19 as White House trade adviser Peter Navarro argues that the central bank should sit on the sidelines ‘because the economy is growing without inflation,’ and there appears to be a shift in market expectations as Fed officials adopt a less-hawkish tone ahead of their last meeting for 2018.

Even though the FOMC appears to be on track to deliver a 25bp rate-hike later this week, Fed Fund Futures now show the central bank on hold throughout the first-half of near year, with the committee already expected to keep the benchmark interest rate at 2.25% to 2.50% in June 2019.