Gold picked up in Europe in quiet trade on Monday as investors sought respite from the sliding dollar against the euro, after much-anticipated jobs data left uncertainty over the pace of US interest rate rises.
Spot gold rose to $393.25/393.95 per troy ounce by 1421 GMT, compared with $390.80/391.30 in New York on Friday.
"The market is still moving with the dollar, but trade is very quiet. Gold is still quite well supported so I don't see it coming lower today," one dealer said.
The US economy added 248,000 new non-farm jobs in May, according to data released on Friday, above the 216,000 consensus forecast. April's number was also revised higher.
The data backed expectations that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates by a quarter point from a 46-year low of one percent this month. But it was not enough to signal that the Fed would go beyond its pledged "measured" pace of tightening and raise rates by 50 basis points in June.
The prospect of higher US interest rates had hurt gold as any tightening would tend to boost demand for the dollar and dull its appeal as an alternative investment, but the market now seems to have accepted a quarter-point rise.
Analysts said however that bullion prices could swing widely over the next few months, while uncertainty lingered over the pace of US monetary tightening.
Analysts said bullion had plenty of scope for more gains as the market's speculative exposure had eased considerably since prices flew to 15-year peaks over $430 earlier this year. Platinum group metals edged up, but were still in the doldrums overall on Monday after drifting sideways last week.
Spot platinum was quoted at $830.00/835.00, compared with $827.50/832.50 last quoted in New York. Sister metal palladium was at $239.00/244.00, from $238.50/244.50 in US trade late on Friday.
Silver, which has broadly mirrored activity in gold in the last week, moved up on Monday to $5.83/5.86, compared with $5.79/5.81 in New York on Friday.
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