By Claudia Assis, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Gold futures rose Monday, reacting positively to Friday's upbeat U.S. report that showed the most number of jobs created in three years but paring some gains following a round of data on housing and the services sector.
Gold for June delivery added $2.80, or 0.2%, to $1,128.90 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Home buyers came back into the market and the U.S. services sector showed improvement, reports showed Monday.
Also Monday, oil futures topped $86 a barrel and U.S. stocks rose. The dollar fell slightly, with the U.S. dollar index (DXY 81.07, -0.05, -0.07%) slipping 0.3% to 81.
Gold and other commodities markets were closed Friday in the U.S when the Labor Department said nonfarm payrolls rose 162,000 in March, the biggest increase in three years, supporting expectations that the U.S. economy was recovering.
London's metal exchange was closed Monday following Easter.
With the London market closed today, "more of the same can be expected ... More thin trading, more excess volatility, more exaggerated moves engendered by such conditions," said Jon Nadler, an analyst with Kitco Metals, in a report Monday.
Gold gained 1.8% in the previous shortened week.
The SPDR Gold Trust (SPY 118.71, +0.91, +0.77%) , the biggest exchange-traded fund backed by gold, added 0.2% to $110.46.
The National Association of Realtors reported Monday an 8.2% increase in its pending home sales index. Economists were looking for a decline or a small increase in the index in February.
The ISM non-manufacturing index rose to 55.4% from 53.0% in February, the Institute for Supply Management reported Monday. The increase was well above expectations as economists were looking the index to rise to 54%.
