Gold drifted lower on Monday after posting its biggest quarterly rise in more than two years, tracking a weaker euro as Spain's struggle to control its finances worried investors. Caution has returned to the market after central banks' stimulus measures cheered gold bugs and sent bullion up for four straight months. Investors are now seeking fresh catalysts amid the still-grim picture in the euro zone.
"In the short term, the weaker euro/dollar does have an impact on gold prices," said Dominic Schnider, an analyst at UBS Wealth Management in Singapore. Dollar-priced gold closed last week barely changed, despite a 0.8-percent rise in the dollar index, showing bullion's resilience, he said.
Euro-priced gold hit a record high of 1,381.15 euros an ounce last Friday. Spot gold had inched down 0.3 percent to $1,766.10 an ounce by 0658 GMT, after finishing the last quarter up nearly 11 percent, its biggest quarterly rise since the second quarter of 2010. US gold fell 0.3 percent to $1,768.50.
"China's slowdown is the prevailing theme out there and of course Europe is always an overhang, but there are only brief spurts of volatility then interest wanes again," said a Hong Kong-based trader. Holdings of gold-backed exchange-traded funds posted a small gain to 73.98 million ounces by September 29, towards a historical high of 74.288 million ounces hit last week.