Investing.com - Gold futures declined on Monday, as market players looked ahead to key U.S. data later in the week to gauge the strength of the economy.
On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold for August delivery dipped 0.4%, or $5.30, to trade at $1,314.70 a troy ounce during European morning hours.
Futures held in a tight range between $1,314.20 and $1,318.40 an ounce. Gold ended Friday’s session up 0.23%, or $3.00, to settle at $1,320.00.
Prices were likely to find support at $1,305.40, the low from June 25 and resistance at $1,326.60, the high from June 24.
Also on the Comex, silver for September delivery lost 1%, or 21.1 cents, to trade at $20.92 a troy ounce.
Investors were turning their attention to the U.S. nonfarm payrolls report for June, due to be released one day early on Thursday, for further indications on the strength of the labor market.
Analysts expect the U.S. economy to have added 210,000 jobs this month while the jobless rate is seen steady at 6.3%.
Gold prices remained supported amid expectations the Federal Reserve will keep rates on hold for an extended period of time after data last week showed that the U.S. economy shrank at an annual rate of 2.9% in the first quarter.
Market players were also awaiting preliminary data on euro zone inflation later in the trading day ahead of the European Central Bank’s policy meeting on Thursday.
Elsewhere in metals trading, copper for September delivery inched down 0.05%, or 0.2 cents, to trade at $3.167 a pound as traders looked ahead to key manufacturing data out of China due later in the week.
Both the government's official purchasing manager's index and HSBC's final PMI reading are due for release on Tuesday. The consensus forecast for the official index is 51.0, up from 50.8 in May.