Gold jumped to a seven-week high on Monday bolstered by a weaker dollar and expectations the Federal Reserve will not hike US interest rates this year. Spot gold rose 0.8 percent to $1,166.26 an ounce by 0651 GMT, after climbing to $1,166.60 earlier in the session, its highest since August 24. The dollar was close to a three-week low. The metal gained 1.6 percent in the previous session after minutes from the Fed's September policy meeting showed that the US central bank was deeply cautious about tightening monetary policy.
Trading activity during Asian hours was thinner than usual with Japanese markets closed for a public holiday. US markets will also be shut on Monday for a holiday. But investors will be keen on US data on inflation, retail sales and industrial production due later in the week. "We don't expect the US economic data to be very optimistic," said Howie Lee, an analyst at Phillip Futures.
"So the dollar could be in for more pain this week. That could push gold higher, even up to $1,180," he said. Soft economic data could add to pressure on the Fed to delay the first US rate hike in nearly a decade, following a weaker-than-expected nonfarm payrolls report earlier this month and caution over the global economy. Markets now expect the first US rate hike in nearly a decade in early 2016.
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