2021.03.2218:05:00UTC+00Gold Futures Settle Weak Despite Coming Off Day's Lows

Gold prices edged lower on Monday amid expectations of a likely drop in demand for the commodity from Turkey, and on fairly steady stock markets.

The dollar's slide after a firm display early on in the day, limited gold's downside.

The dollar index, which was up in positive territory in the Asian session, retreated subsequently and was last seen at 91.72, down 0.22% from previous close.

Gold futures for April ended down $3.60 or about 0.2% at $1,738.10 an ounce, recovering from a low of $1,726.40 an ounce.

Silver futures for May closed lower by $0.552 at $25.769 an ounce, while Copper futures for May settled at $4.1395 per pound, gaining $0.0265.

The dollar was near a four-month high against the Lira after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ousted central bank Chief Naci Agbal for hiking interest rate to contain double-digit inflation.

The move came two days after the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey hiked its benchmark policy rate by 200 basis points to 19 percent to tame its high inflation rate.

In a statement on Sunday, the central bank said it "will continue to use the monetary policy tools effectively in line with its main objective of achieving a permanent fall in inflation".

In U.S. economic news, a report released by the National Association of Realtors said existing home sales in the U.S. tumbled by much more than expected in the month of February, plunging by 6.6% to an annual rate of 6.22 million, after inching up by 0.2% to a downwardly revised rate of 6.66 million in January.

Economists had expected existing home sales to slump by 3% to a rate of 6.49 million from the 6.69 million originally reported for the previous month.