By mid-morning in New York, gold was marked around US$1,249 per ounce, some $4/oz lower than 24 hours earlier. It ended last week at $1,283/oz.

An interest rate hike during the Federal Market Open Committee meeting next week is pretty much priced into the gold market, but investors are continuing to leave the safe haven in favour of the greenback on expectations of increased spending on infrastucture in the US.

Trump came into the White House with grand infrastructure plans and analysts believe an announcement on his plans could come in January, countering the anticipated inflationary effects of the tax cut legislation now going through congress.

Despite the price softness, Barrick Gold's (US:ABX) New York-listed shares were up 0.95% and Goldcorp's (CN:G) Toronto-listed stock had risen 0.65% by mid-morning.

While the evidence has not yet appeared, one can't help think gold investors may also have got caught up in the Bitcoin bull run this week.

The cryptocurrency hit a new record on Friday, crossing the US$17,000 mark, before falling back to as low as $14,123. It has since recovered to $15,637, according to coindesk.com.

Bitcoins had risen as much as 70% this week.