WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Gold prices edged lower on Monday, as investors sought riskier assets such as equities following recent weakness.
A firm dollar contributed as well to gold's decline.
The dollar index, which rose to 97.89, was last seen at 97.81, up 0.43% from previous close.
Gold futures for April ended down $5.50, or about 0.4%, at $1,582.40 an ounce.
On Friday, gold futures for April ended down $1.30, or 0.08%, at $1,587.90 an ounce.
Silver futures for March ended down $0.342 at $17.670 an ounce, while Copper futures for March ended down $0.0100 at $2.5070 per pound.
In economic news, U.S. manufacturing activity unexpectedly expanded for the first time in several months in January, according to a report released by the Institute for Supply Management on Monday.
The ISM said its purchasing managers index surged up to 50.9 in January after slipping to a revised 47.8 in December, with a reading above 50 indicating growth in manufacturing activity.
Economists had expected the index to show a more modest increase to a reading of 48.5, which would have still indicated a contraction.
Data released by the Commerce Department showed an expected drop in construction spending in the month of December.
The report said construction spending dipped by 0.2% to an annual rate of $1.328 trillion in December after climbing by 0.7% to a revised rate of $1.330 trillion in November.
The modest pullback came as a surprise to economists, who had expected construction spending to increase by 0.5%.
Earlier on Monday, the People's Bank of China lowered its seven-day reverse repo rate to 2.4% from 2.5% in an unscheduled move. The previous move in this rate was a five basis points reduction in November, the first cut since October 2015.
The central bank also cut the 14-day reverse repo rate to 2.55% from 2.65%. This rate was lowered last in December, by five basis points.
The PBoC also injected a total CNY 1.2 trillion yuan into money markets on Monday through reverse repo deals.
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