Gold fell on Monday as lingering uncertainty about whether central banks will take further steps to boost their economies prompted investors to take profits after the previous week's gain. Weaker US equities and losses in commodities led by grains also dragged bullion lower.
Gold prices have held in a trading range in the last three months due to uncertainty that central banks will take further monetary stimulus to reinvigorate economic growth. Spot gold was down 0.6 percent at $1,610.35 an ounce by 3:40 p.m. EDT (1940 GMT), having earlier hit a high at $1,625.21. Among other metals, silver fell 1 percent to $27.81 an ounce. Platinum was down 0.7 percent at $1,383.25 an ounce, while palladium fell 0.8 percent to $573.22 an ounce.