Gold Ends Higher As Dollar Weakens

(RTTNews) - Gold futures snapped a two-day loss to end higher on Monday, as the dollar trended lower against some major currencies with investors seeking the safe haven status of the precious metal amid worries over the eurozone economy, with added speculation the U.S. Federal Reserve may not hike rates soon.

Comments from St Louis Fed President James Bullard last week that the Fed may delay the end of its asset purchase program have also supported gold.

Gold for December delivery, the most actively traded contract, gained 5.70 or 0.5 percent to settle at $1,244.70 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange on Monday.

Gold for December delivery scaled an intraday high of $1,249.30 and a low of $1,234.90 an ounce.

On Thursday, gold ended lower by $2.20 or 0.2 percent at $1,239.00 an ounce as concerns about the world's largest economy eased after some impressive reports of initial jobless claims and industrial production, as well as the more than expected increase in housing starts and improved consumer sentiment further. Nevertheless, gold gained about 1.4 percent last week.

Holdings of SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, remained unchanged at 760.93 tons on Monday, from its previous close of 759.14 tons.

The dollar index, which tracks the U.S. unit against six major currencies, traded at 84.96 on Monday, down from its previous close of 85.31 late Friday in North American trade. The dollar scaled a high of 85.38 intraday and a low of 84.95.

The euro trended higher against the dollar at $1.2802 on Monday, as compared to its previous close of $1.2750 late Friday in North American trade. The euro scaled a high of $1.2806 intraday and a low of $1.2732.

In economic news from eurozone, the eurozone current account surplus declined in August with surplus on trade in services declining notably, data from the European Central Bank showed Monday. The current account surplus dropped to a seasonally adjusted EUR 18.9 billion in August from EUR 21.6 billion in July.

Meanwhile, Germany's producer prices declined at a faster rate as expected in September, data from Destatis showed Monday. Producer prices fell 1 percent year-over-year in September following the 0.8 percent decrease in August, in line with the consensus estimate.

The Bundesbank in a downbeat view of the German economy, a monthly report from the central bank said the economic outlook should be either at the same level of the second quarter or slightly better than the prior quarter. The economy had contracted 0.2 percent in the second quarter.

Elsewhere in Europe, U.K. gross mortgage lending decreased slightly in August from last month, data from the Council of Mortgage Lenders showed Monday. Gross mortgage lending totaled GBP 17.8 billion, down 1 percent from August, but grew 10 percent from last September. In the third quarter, gross mortgage lending was estimated at GBP 55.5 billion, which represents an 8 percent increase from the second quarter.

No major economic data is due for release in the U.S. today. However, traders look ahead to data on existing and new homes sales for September, the house price index for August, weekly jobless claims and the flash estimate of Markit's U.S. manufacturing survey for October, all due during the course of the week.