Gold rose on Monday, up from a three-month low hit on Friday as US lawmakers and President Barack Obama remained unable to clinch a deal to reopen the government and avert a looming default. Talks have been largely fruitless since what appeared to be a breakthrough on Thursday. Lawmakers said they still thought they could reach an agreement in the coming hours, and traders said that optimism kept gold from rising further.
"Gold has failed to benefit from the recent risk events and although a catalyst lingers in the form of the looming debt ceiling deadline that could push gold prices higher," said Suki Cooper, precious metals strategist at Barclays Capital. Spot gold rose 0.4 percent to $1,277.41 an ounce by 3:05 pm EDT (1905 GMT). During the session, gold rose as high as $1,288.88 an ounce.
US gold futures for December settled up $8.40 an ounce at $1,276.60, with volume about 40 percent below its 250-day average, preliminary Reuters data showed. Some US traders were away as the bond market was shut for the Columbus Day holiday. Among other precious metals, silver rose 0.6 percent to $21.32 an ounce. Platinum was up 0.9 percent at $1,376.50 an ounce, while palladium inched up 9 cents to $711.59 an ounce.