The price of gold gained for the first time in eight sessions on Monday as traders took advantage of the lowest prices in a month. Gold for December delivery ended at $790.00 an ounce, up $2.30 on the session. Prices hit as high as $811.80 in overnight trading but came back on a stronger dollar and lower crude oil prices.
The metal dropped $71.30 last week week and had lost nearly $150 from the 10-week high it saw last week. Gold remains down more than $200 from its record high of $1,033.90 from March.
Traders considered testimony by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke in front of the House Budget Committee. He cautioned Monday that the economy is likely to remain weak for several quarters, adding that there is "some risk of a protracted slowdown."
The rally was limited by the rise in the U.S. dollar. The greenback climbed to its highest level in 10 days versus the euro, climbing to 1.3287. With the advance, the dollar moved closer to its yearly high of 1.3256, set last week. The greenback moved to a weekly best versus the euro.
A rise in crude oil prices also hindered gold's hedge value. In mid-day trading, crude oil touched $76 a barrel, more than $8 off of last week's yearly low.
On the economic front Monday morning, the Conference Board released its report on leading economic indicators in the month of September, showing that its leading indicators index unexpectedly increased for the first time in the past five months.
The report showed that the leading indicators index increased by 0.3 percent in September following a revised 0.9 percent decrease in August. Economists had expected the index to fall by 0.3 percent compared to the 0.5 percent decrease originally reported for the previous month.
