Gold prices touched an over two-week low on Monday before paring losses as chart signals helped offset pressure from a stronger dollar and an early advance in equities. Spot gold was down 0.01 percent at $1,280.43 per ounce by 2:53 pm EDT (1853 GMT), paring losses on a flurry of technical buying after hitting its lowest since October 6 at $1,271.86.
US gold futures for December delivery settled up $0.40, or 0.03 percent, at $1,280.90 per ounce. US equities advanced in early trade, weighing on gold. Stocks pared gains on profit-taking ahead of another week of third-quarter earnings for US companies. "The new week started positively for the US dollar and equity markets overnight, causing the buck-denominated gold to fall further out of favor," said Fawad Razaqzada, technical analyst for Forex.com, in a note.
Gold prices were also under pressure from expectations that Japan's ultra-loose monetary policy would stay in place after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's election victory at the weekend lifted the dollar to a three-month high versus the yen. Bullion is highly sensitive to rising US interest rates, which lift the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding bullion while boosting the dollar, in which it is priced. Silver was up 0.26 percent at $17.04 an ounce, earlier hitting $16.84, its lowest since October 9. Platinum was up 0.5 percent at $924.90 per ounce and palladium was down 1.6 percent at $959.20 an ounce.