(RTTNews) - The price of gold was firm near $1,440 Monday morning as the U.S. dollar was ticking lower versus a basket of currencies even after encouraging jobs report released Friday.
The U.S. economy added more jobs than expected in March, bringing the unemployment rate down slightly for the month.
Gold for June delivery, the most actively traded contract, gained $9.10 to $1,438.00 an ounce. Last week, gold ended little changed amid conflict in the Middle East and Japan's nuclear problems.
Holdings of SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, were unchanged at 1,211.23 tons.
Meanwhile, the U.S. dollar was lingering near its 5-month low versus the euro, amid speculation that the ECB will hike its key rates as soon as this week. The buck was trading marginally lower versus sterling, the Swiss franc and the yen.
Elsewhere, the price of silver advanced to a fresh 31-year peak and platinum was ticking higher in morning deals.
