PRECIOUS-Gold drops over 1% as thin trading, profit‑taking weigh

By Pablo Sinha

Feb 16 (Reuters) - Gold prices dropped on Monday, pressured by thin trading volumes as U.S. and China markets remained shut due to local public holidays, while some traders booked profits after last session's 2.5% jump.

Spot gold XAU= fell 1.1% to $4,988.04 per ounce by 0359 GMT. U.S. gold futures GCcv1 for April delivery lost 0.8% to $5,006.60 per ounce.

"Gold has given back some of Friday's post-CPI gains today due to thinner trading conditions and a lack of fresh upside catalysts," said Tim Waterer, KCM chief analyst, and also pointed to profit-taking on the day.

U.S. markets are closed for the Presidents' Day holiday, while markets in China are closed for the Lunar New Year holiday.

The Consumer Price Index rose 0.2% in January after an unrevised 0.3% gain in December, the Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics said on Friday. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast the CPI to increase by 0.3%.

Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago President Austan Goolsbee said on Friday that interest rates could go down, but noted that services inflation remained high.

Market participants anticipate the central bank to hold interest rates at its next meeting on March 18. Still, they are pricing in 75 basis points in rate cuts this year, with the first expected in July, according to data compiled by LSEG.

"It will likely require the dollar to resume its downtrend for gold to make a push in the direction of $6,000 before year end," Waterer said.

On the geopolitical front, the U.S. military is preparing for the possibility of a weeks-long operation against Iran should President Donald Trump authorise an attack, two U.S. officials told Reuters, in what could become a far more serious conflict than previously seen between the countries.

Spot silver XAG= fell as much as 3.2% to $74.50 per ounce, after a 3% rise on Friday.

Spot platinum XPT= slipped 0.4% to $2,054.78 per ounce, while palladium XPD= lost 0.2% to $1,682.44.