Gold prices softened on Monday but remained within sight of a two-month high above $960 touched in the previous session, retaining their sheen in the face of a weaker dollar. Public holidays on Monday in the United States and Britain may have also accounted for the lack of market reaction, as was the fact that North Korea had warned about conducting such a test for weeks. Gold was at $954.85 per ounce at 0601 GMT, down 0.1 percent from New York’s notional close of $955.85. On Friday, bullion touched a high of $961.30 an ounce, its highest since March 20. The world’s largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, the SPDR Gold Trust, said its holdings rose to 1,118.76 tonnes as of May 22, up 13.14 tonnes or 1.2 percent from the previous business day. Holdings hit a record high of 1,127.68 tonnes in early April.
