CHICAGO, Dec. 11 (Xinhua) -- Gold futures on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange fell on Monday as the U.S. dollar index strengthened.

The most active gold contract for February delivery fell 20.80 U.S. dollars, or 1.03 percent, to close at 1,993.70 dollars per ounce.

With stronger-than-expected U.S. job growth crushing somewhat market expectations that the Federal Reserve will start to cut interest rates in early 2024, gold dropped Friday and continued the trend Monday.

The Federal Open Market Committee's December meeting will convene Tuesday and conclude Wednesday with an announcement. It is widely expected that the Federal Reserve will keep rate unchanged.

The Bank of England and the European Central Bank are also expected to hold rates unchanged at meetings on Thursday. The Swiss National Bank, Norges Bank, the Bank of Mexico and the Bank of Russia will also announce their end-2023 policy decisions this week.

Investors are also waiting for release of U.S. consumer price index on Tuesday.

Silver for March delivery fell 21.80 cents, or 0.94 percent, to close at 23.058 dollars per ounce. Platinum for January delivery fell 4.10 dollars, or 0.45 percent, to close at 915.70 dollars per ounce.