Gold prices fell on Monday, pulling back from a 2-week high on profit-taking, while the US dollar rose against its peers ahead of Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell's statements.

Gold prices fell 1.1% to $1,727.20 an ounce, after opening at $1,745.47, and hit a high of $1,747.06

Gold gained 0.5% on Friday, after losing the same on Thursday on profit-taking from a 2-week high of $1,755.50.

The yellow metal gained 1.1% last week, and posted the second straight weekly gain, on strong safe-haven demand.

The dollar index rose more than 0.2% today, to extend its rally for the third day in a row, which weighs down on dollar-denominated metals prices.

The greenback is being lifted by investors' risk aversion amid fears over the latest financial developments in Turkey.

The Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan unexpectedly fired the central bank governor Anji Agdal, and replaced him by a former deputy of the ruling party Kavcıolu.

At 13:00 GMT, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell is due to participate in a virtual panel discussion about central bank innovation at an online event hosted by the Bank for International Settlements.

Jerome Powell told the Wall Street Journal that the US will will emerge from this crisis stronger and better, as we have done so before.

Gold stocks at the SPDR ETF rose 3.5 metric tonnes on Friday, the largest daily increase since January 15, and reached a the highest total since March 11 at 1,069.26 metric tonnes.

USD/JPY tilted lower in Asian trade off June 2020 highs amid a lack of data from Japan and ahead of US data later today and speeches by several Fed officials. 

As of 06:58 GMT, USD/JPY fell 0.02% to 108.77, with an intraday low at 108.51, and a high at 108.96. 

From the US, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell is due to participate in a virtual panel discussion about central bank innovation at an online event hosted by the Bank for International Settlements later today.

Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond President Thomas Barkin will speak at an online event hosted by the Maryland Bankers Association today as well.

US existing home sales are expected down 2.1% to 6.55 million units in February, compared to a 0.6% rise to 6.69 million in January. 

The Japanese yen held against the US dollar on Friday, following the Bank of Japan's decision.

The Bank of Japan kept its interest rate unchanged at -0.10% and also ditched its 6 trillion yen guide for annual purchases of exchange-traded funds every year.

Analysts believe that these measures reflect the extent of the Bank of Japan's loss of confidence in adopting the huge monetary stimulus packages it launched 8 years ago, and it wants to focus on the side effects on the banking sector instead of targeting a 2% inflation rate.

As of 19:25 GMT, USD/JPY held at 108.9, after hitting a high of 109.1 and a low of 108.6.

Silver prices fell on Friday, as the US dollar rose against most of its peers, but the precious metal managed to post weekly gains.

The Federal Reserve refused to extend the exemption that lowered bank capital requirements to exclude deposits or bonds after March 31.

The 10-year US bond yields rose to 1.73% today, which weighs down on stock markets.

The dollar index rose against a basket of major currencies by 0.1% to 91.9 points as of 19:37 GMT, after hitting a high of 92.1 points and a low of 91.6 points.

Silver May futures rose 0.1% or 3 cents, and closed at $26.32 an ounce, with weekly gains of 1.5%, after hitting today's high at $26.400 and the low at $25.925.