WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Gold prices edged higher after a weak start on Monday. Although the most active gold futures contract closed the day with a gain, they posted a modest loss for the month.
A weak U.S. dollar and a mixed trend on Wall Street supported gold's uptick.
The dollar turned weak following Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell outlining an accommodative policy change last week, which could result in inflation moving slightly higher and interest rates staying lower for longer.
The dollar index, which slipped to 92.37 from around 93.00 on Friday, dropped down to a low of 91.99 by late morning today before recovering to 92.13, still trailing its previous close by over 0.25%.
Gold futures for December ended up $3.70 or about 0.2% at $1,978.60 an ounce, off the day's low of $1,962.30 an ounce.
Gold futures shed about 0.4% in August.
Silver futures for December closed higher by $0.804 at $28.594 an ounce, while Copper futures for December settled at $3.0615 per pound, gaining $0.0420 for the day.
Data from China showing continued expansion in the country's manufacturing activity contributed a bit to gold's uptick. The latest survey from the National Bureau of Statistics said China's manufacturing PMI came in with a reading of 51.0. That was lower than an expected score of 51.2 and down from July's 51.1, but was still fairly good.
The non-manufacturing index came in with a score of 55.2, beating forecasts for a reading of 55.0. In July, the index came in with a reading of 54.2.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX