Investing.com -- Gold prices slid to a three-week low on Monday as risk assets extended the gains they made on Friday after the U.S. labor market report.
By 11 AM ET, gold futures for delivery on the Comex exchange were down 0.5% at $1,508.55 a troy ounce. Spot gold was down 0.5% at $1,500.16.
There was fresh evidence from China that the flood of central bank buying that drove gold's rally in the first half of the year may be drying up.
The Chinese central bank raised its gold holdings to 62.45 million ounces in August from 62.26 million a month earlier, according to data on its website at the weekend. However, that represented purchases of only 5.91 tons in the month, after an average of 11.75 tons a month since December.
The pullback by haven assets was also visible in the bond markets, where the 30-year U.S. Treasury yield rose to 2.12%, its highest since Aug. 23. While shorter-dated yields also rose, the shape of the yield curve stayed much the same, sending no fresh signals about the likelihood or otherwise of a recession.
Elsewhere, silver prices also slid, losing 0.1% to $18.09, while platinum was down 0.6% to $953.10 an ounce.
Copper futures, which normally move in the opposite direction to precious metals, also fell, losing 0.3% to $2.625 a pound.