Gold prices gain 3.0pc

Gold prices rose for a third straight session on Monday, climbing to a near one-week high after Iran and the United States agreed to halt their war, a move that eased expectations of higher interest rates, reports Reuters.

Spot gold rose 3 per cent to $4,344.77 per ounce, as of 08:42 a.m. EDT (1242 GMT), hitting its highest level since June 9.

US gold futures climbed 3 per cent to $4,366.80.

The US dollar index was down 0.2 per cent, making greenback priced-metals more affordable for holders of other currencies.

While still a framework, the deal marked the biggest breakthrough and would reopen the Strait of Hormuz, sending oil prices falling. The memorandum of understanding is scheduled to be officially signed on Friday in Switzerland.

"The gold market is moving past the conflict and pricing it out. The peace deal news took down Treasury yields, the dollar and oil and those were the biggest inflation and cross asset risks," said Phillip Streible, chief market strategist at Blue Line Futures.

Gold has faced pressure since the Iran conflict began, as higher energy prices raised the chances of interest rate hikes, which tend to weigh on the non-yielding asset.

After the peace deal, traders cut the odds of a US rate hike in December to 54.8 per cent from nearly 70 per cent last week, according to the CME FedWatch tool.

Attention is now turning to the Federal Reserve's June 16-17 policy meeting, Chair Kevin Warsh's first at the helm, as markets look for clues on the interest-rate outlook.

Gold's next price move - all comes down to Warsh, his tone is and what he is going to talk about interest rate path is what is going to move the markets, added Streible.

Meanwhile, Singapore will establish an over-the-counter gold clearing system and introduce central bank gold-vaulting services, the deputy prime minister said.

Among other metals, spot silver rose 4.6 per cent to $71.07 per ounce, platinum gained 4.6 per cent to $1,796.45 and palladium jumped 5.1 per cent to $1,348.30.