Gold rose on Monday on geopolitical worries, but was trading in a tight range in the absence of any fresh clues on US monetary policy and as the market looked to economic data later in the week for more direction. Supporting gold was geopolitical tension sparked by US President Donald Trump who on Sunday held out the possibility of using trade as a lever to secure Chinese co-operation against North Korea.
Spot gold was 0.3 percent higher at $1,252.66 per ounce by 2:15 pm EDT (1815 GMT), trading in a range between $1,244.05 and $1,253.52. In other precious metals, spot silver edged down 0.3 percent to $18.17 per ounce but held near one-month highs. Platinum rose about 1 percent to $953.65, after recording its best quarter in a year. Palladium was up 0.9 percent at $802.20 an ounce and is up about 17 percent so far this year.