US gold lower

US gold futures finished lower on Monday on bearish sentiment, but off session lows as crude oil prices recovered and trade was quiet ahead of a slew of economic indicators later this week, traders said. "As far as the metals are concerned, it's really lackluster," Jonathan Jossen, an independent trader, said from the COMEX floor.
Gold for August delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange's COMEX division settled down $2.30 at $654.70 an ounce, dealing from $651.60 to $657.70. Jossen said that investor sentiment was largely bearish and buying interest was lacking because of a host of factors including a higher interest-rate environment, weaker oil prices and sagging stock markets.
Last week, US stocks retreated on inflation concerns as the benchmark bond yields of the US government debt rose and jittery investors sold on news of troubled hedge funds rankled by subprime mortgage holdings.
Jon Nadler, analyst at Kitco Bullion Dealers, said in a note to clients that global interest-rate worries were still acting as a "disquieting undercurrent" to many asset markets.
"The potential for stock market margin calls giving rise to liquidations across the precious metals complex continues to weigh heavily on traders' minds this morning," Nadler said. US oil futures retraced early losses and ended up 4 cents at $69.18 a barrel. In morning trading, oil had dropped more than $1 on news that exports could resume from an abandoned Nigerian oilfield.
Gold is seen as a hedge against oil-led inflation. Jossen said volume was light ahead of the busy economic calendar this week. New home sales and consumer confidence reports are due on Tuesday, with durable goods orders data on Wednesday, a gross domestic product report and the Federal Reserve's rate-setting decision on Thursday. Personal income data is to be released on Friday.
COMEX estimated gold futures volume at 1:00 am EDT (1700 GMT) was 45,326 lots, and gold options was 7,749. Turnover at Chicago Board of Trade's electronic 100-oz gold futures was just 15,338 lots at 2:51 pm (1851 GMT).
Spot gold fell to $650.80/651.40 an ounce, compared with $653.60/655.10 an ounce late Friday. The London afternoon gold fix was set at $650.75. COMEX July silver closed down 14.3 cents, or 1.1 percent, at $12.870 an ounce. It hit a session low of $12.81, the weakest since May 17. July silver reached a session high of $13.07 in early sessions.
Spot silver was quoted at $12.845/12.875 an ounce, sharply below the late Friday quote of $13.04/13.08. London silver was fixed at $12.96 an ounce. NYMEX July platinum fell $16.30, or 1.3 percent, to close at $1,291.70 an ounce. Spot platinum was last traded at $1,280/1,284 an ounce. September palladium closed down $6.60, or 1.7 percent, at $375.35 an ounce. Spot palladium fetched $367.50/371.50.