Gold ended lower on Monday, but safe-haven buying by investors jittery about slow US manufacturing growth limited losses after a US debt deal shoved the precious metal sharply off record levels. Spot gold slipped 0.4 percent at $1,620.49 an ounce by 2:56 PM EDT (1856 GMT), having earlier traded within $1 of Friday's record high of $1,632.30.
Most-active US December gold futures settled down $9.50 at $1,621.70 an ounce. US trading volume was lower than last week when the market rose to record highs. Spot silver dropped 1.3 percent to $39.30 an ounce. Platinum group metals tracked other industrial commodities lower. Platinum was down 1.1 percent at $1,790.24 an ounce. Spot palladium slipped 1.6 percent to $826.75 an ounce.