Precious-Gold extended its drop for a second session as strong U.S. payrolls data dented demand on the metal amid expectations the Fed would continue stimulus reduction.

American employers added 175,000 jobs last month, higher than forecast of 149,000, while January’s reading was revised up to 129,000 from 113,000.

The upbeat labor market data gave a boost to the dollar on expectations the Fed will continue the pace of stimulus reduction by slashing another $10 billion this month to $55 billion.

Investors will keep their attention on U.S. data as they aim to gather clues about the Fed’s pace of stimulus taper, where the focus would be on the Fed’s March 18-19 meeting.

Gold gained 11 percent this year on slowdown in U.S. recovery, geopolitical tensions and energing markets rout.

Last week, the metal locked a gain of 0.58 percent after dropping 0.73 percent on Friday, following the release of the NFP figures.

Over the previous 11 weeks, the yellow metal managed to end 10 of them on a gain, yet Goldman Sachs sees that the rally would fizzle and metal will fall to $1,000 for the first time since 2009.

Meanwhile, the yellow metal is trading around $1332.25 an ounce after hitting a high of $1338.39 and a low of $1327.89.

On the political front, Russia said it would take into consideration all the diplomatic efforts by Western countries to contain Ukraine crisis, but insists that Crimea had the right to secede.

The U.S. dollar ticked down against a basket of major currencies to hover around 79.66 after opening at 79.68, according to the dollar index.

Crude oil for April’s delivery slumped to $101.30 a barrel, after touching a record high of $105.19 last week. 

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