Investing.com - Gold prices started the week off on the right foot, heading further away from seven-month lows seen last week, as easing worries over inflationary pressure supported the precious metal.
At 11:09AM ET (15:09GMT), gold futures for August delivery on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange gained $6.60, or 0.5%, to $1,262.40 a troy ounce.
Last Friday’s jobs report showed wage inflation increasing less than forecast, easing the pressure on the Federal Reserve to take a more aggressive path on policy tightening. Higher interest rates tend to weigh on demand for gold, which doesn’t bear interest, in favor of yield-bearing investments.
In a session with no major economic reports, investors looked ahead to inflation data later in the week with the producer price index to be released on Wednesday, followed by the consumer price index a day later.
Recent dollar weakness has also been supporting gold prices as the dollar-denominated commodity becomes more affordable to holders of foreign currencies. The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, hit nearly a one-month low of 93.44 overnight.
In other metals trading, silver futures rose 0.6% at $16.165 a troy ounce by 11:11AM ET (15:11GMT).
Palladium futures gained 1.01% to $958.40 an ounce, while sister metal platinum traded up 0.7% at $854.90.
In base metals, copper advanced 1.2% to $2.857 a pound.