Gold drops on advancing dollar and some serious profit-taking by gold traders following last week's bump as the markets continue to access banking risks. The global banking crisis has nudged the Federal Reserve's series of interest rate hikes from the front of investors minds amid widespread sentiment that the central bank will hold rates unchanged in May. Some of the markets concern about the default banks - which drove gold prices up above $2,000 an ounce last week has eased as regulators and acquirers have stepped in, but traders continued to watch the situation. June gold futures gained 0.6% last week to settle at $2,001.70 an ounce on Comex, though the front-month contract fell 0.6% Friday. Bullion decreased 5.6% last month, its worst performance since June 2021. It increased 6.5% in January and gained 3.8% in December. The metal fell $2.40 in 2022. The June contract is currently down $34.4 (-1.72%) an ounce to $1967.30 and the MetalStacks spot price is $1950.90. U.S. regulators are also considering additional support for lenders, and First Citizens BancShares Inc. agreed to buy all deposits and loans of Silicon Valley Bank, which triggered the crisis when it was seized by regulators a couple of weeks ago. It was the biggest bank to fail in more than a decade. In economic news, a key inflation report comes out this week, and multiple officials from the Fed are scheduled to speak. MetalStacks will be closely watching for further indications of future direction from the central bank. The Fed raised rates by another 25 basis points last week to combat soaring inflation. Any pause or halt in rate hikes would be seen as supportive for the precious metal since higher interest rates are typically bearish for gold.