US gold futures ended higher on Monday, steadying after the previous session's biggest one-day drop in four months, as eurozone sovereign debt and technical buying helped offset a stronger dollar. COMEX December gold futures settled up $3 at $1,368.50 an ounce on the COMEX division of the NYMEX.
Ranged between $1,376.60 and $1,356.50. Spot bullion posted its biggest one-day fall since July 1 as the entire commodities spectrum were hit on concerns that China may soon raise interest rates, cooling record demand for raw materials from the world's fastest-growing commodities consumer.
COMEX futures volume was about 210,000 contracts, in line with its 30-day average, according to preliminary Reuters data. Spot gold slipped 0.3 percent to $1,362.09 an ounce at 3:18 p.m. EDT (2018 GMT) COMEX December silver ends up 15 cents at $26.092 an ounce, stabilising after a volatile week in which prices fell sharply from a 30-year high after the exchange raised silver futures margins. Ranged from $25.475 to $26.480 an ounce.
On Friday, spot silver posted biggest one-day loss since February. COMEX trading volume at about 90,000 lots, nearly doubled its 250-day moving average. Silver dropped 0.3 percent to $25.70 an ounce. NYMEX January platinum finished up $1.20 at $1,685.80 on bargain hunting. Spot platinum eased 0.7 percent at $1,669.24 an ounce. NYMEX December palladium closed up $7.65, or 1.1 percent, at $681.30 an ounce on the coattails of platinum and gold. Spot palladium decreased 0.7 percent to $670.97.