Gold prices eased on Monday as concerns that the European debt crisis will hurt global growth kept the euro under pressure, but prices are expected to remain rangebound, with liquidity tightening as money managers close their books for the year. Spot gold edged down to $1,593 an ounce by 3:05 p.m. EST (2005 GMT) from $1,598.75 at Friday's finish. Earlier, it set a low at $1,582.84, as worries about further eurozone debt rating downgrades lifted the dollar.
In New York, US gold futures for February delivery closed down $1.20 an ounce at $1,596.70, and traded in a range between $1,593 to $1,607,50 per ounce. Among other precious metals, silver was down 2.91 percent at $28.77 an ounce, having fallen about 8 percent last week in gold's wake. Spot platinum was down about 0.60 percent at $1,402.98 an ounce, while spot palladium was off 2.07 percent at $607.72 an ounce.