Investing.com - Gold prices rose to trade near a three-month high on Monday, as doubts over the U.S. economic recovery boosted the appeal of the precious metal.
On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for April delivery traded in a range between $1,319.10 a troy ounce and $1,332.10 an ounce.
Gold prices last traded at $1,331.80 an ounce during European morning hours, up 0.6%. Futures ended Friday’s session up 0.51%, or $6.70, to settle at $1,323.60 an ounce.
Prices were likely to find support at $1,307.10 a troy ounce, the low from February 20 and resistance at $1,332.40, the high from February 18.
Meanwhile, silver for March delivery added 0.45% to trade at $21.91 a troy ounce. The March contract picked up 0.45% on Friday to settle at $21.78 an ounce.
Gold prices have been well-supported in recent weeks amid concerns that the U.S. economic recovery has lost momentum since the end of last year as inclement winter weather weighed on growth.
Data on Friday showed that U.S. existing home sales fell by a larger-than-forecast 5.1% in January to hit an 18-month low.
This weak report came one day after the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia said that its manufacturing index deteriorated to a 12-month low of minus 6.3 in February from January’s reading of 9.4.
The recent patch of soft U.S. economic data fuelled expectations that U.S. monetary policy will remain accommodative.
Market players looked ahead to key U.S. data later in the week to further gauge the strength of the economy.
The U.S. is to publish revised data on fourth quarter economic growth, while data on durable goods orders and consumer confidence will also be in focus.
Data from the Commodities Futures Trading Commission released Friday showed that hedge funds and money managers increased their bullish bets in gold futures in the week ending February 18.
Net longs totaled 90,942 contracts, compared to net longs of 67,291 in the preceding week.
Elsewhere on the Comex, copper futures for March delivery dropped 1% to trade at $3.227 a pound.