Gold eased on Monday as investors grew cautious and took profits after mounting risk appetite prompted them to shift funds out of the dollar into commodities, pushing bullion to a three-month high late last week. FUNDAMENTALS * Spot gold eased 0.2 percent to $976.15 as of 0001 GMT from New York's notional close of $978.20 on Friday. Gold rose more than $20 last week. * U.S. gold futures for August delivery GCQ9 inched down 0.3 percent to $977.80 per ounce from $980.30 an ounce on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. On Friday, August hit a high of $982, the highest level since Feb. 25. * The world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, the SPDR Gold Trust GLD, said holdings stood at 1,118.76 tonnes as of May 29, unchanged from the previous business day. [GOL/SPDR] MARKET NEWS * Nikkei opened down 0.05 percent. [.T] * The dollar edged up against the euro after dropping steeply on Friday. The dollar hit a five-month low against a basket of major currencies on Friday and the euro rose above $1.41 for the first time this year as investors bought higher-yielding currencies and assets on hopes for a global economic recovery. [USD/] * The dollar's weakness has supported gold as investors view gold as insurance against the falling value of dollar-denominated portfolios. * Speculators boosted their holdings of U.S. gold futures, with noncommercial investors net long on 177,308 contracts of gold futures in the week to May 26, compared with a net long 149,584 contracts in the week to May 19. [ID:nN29434339] * Oil prices extended their rally to near their highest in seven months on Monday as dollar weakness, stock market optimism and sustained hope for economic recovery supported the market's best monthly gains in a decade. [O/R] DATA EVENTS * The following data is expected on Monday: ECON - German manufacturing PMI. (0753 GMT) - Euro zone manufacturing PMI. (0758 GMT) - U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner meets with top Chinese officials. (N.A.) - U.S. personal income/spending for April. (1230 GMT) - U.S. construction spending for April. (1400 GMT) - The Institute for Supply Management releases its May manufacturing index. (1400 GMT). RELATED NEWS >Gold hits $980/oz on dollar slide, fund inflows [GOL/] >Australian gold output seen up in 2009-Surbiton [ID:nSYD401578] >Claymore buys 345,000 oz of gold with fund launch[ID:nN29506512] >U.S. GDP data adds to hopes for global recovery [ID:nSP465917] >GM trundles toward bankruptcy, questions remain [ID:nN31495007] PRICES Precious metals prices at 0005 Metal Last Change Pct chg Day ago pct MA 30 RSI Spot gold $977.00 -$1.20 -0.12% +8.92% $860.10 78 Spot silver $15.65 -$0.09 -0.57% +30.63% $11.29 82 Spot plat $1184.00 -$3.00 -0.25% -0.25% $1130.10 73 COMEX gold $978.00 -$1.60 -0.16% +1.62% $924.22 82 TOCOM gold 3,008 -2 -0.07% -0.36% 2,889 77 TOCOM plat 3,657 21 +0.58% +0.49% 3,541 67 Currencies Euro/dlr $1.410 -$0.004 -0.27% -0.42%

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