Gold rose to its highest price in more than a month on Monday, as fears of a slowing US economy and expectations that Federal Reserve monetary policy would remain easy prompted safe-haven demand. Bullion has gained nearly 6 percent in the past three weeks, boosted by a string of disappointing US economic indicators including Friday's weak jobs data.
Spot gold was up 0.1 percent at $1,542.79 an ounce by 2:39 pm EDT (1839 GMT). Gold initially hit a session high of $1,553.30, its loftiest since early May, but pared gains as the dollar strengthened against the euro. Bullion hit a record $1,575.79 an ounce on May 2. US August gold futures settled up $4.80 at $1,547.20, having traded from $1,542 to $1,553.90. COMEX gold futures volume was below 100,000 lots, almost 60 percent under its 30-day average, extending last week's weaker turnover.
Spot silver rose 1.3 percent to $36.68, rebounding from near two-week lows in the previous session. That brought the gold/silver ratio to 42.1, its lowest since Thursday, denoting its outperformance over gold in the last few days. Silver prices have fallen more than a quarter since hitting a record $49.51 on April 28 but are up 19 percent on the year, compared with gold's 9 percent rise. Platinum was up 84 cents at $1,811.99 an ounce, while palladium was up 1.1 percent at $788.47, having risen as much as 1.7 percent to an intraday peak at $793.50, its highest since early May.