Investing.com - Gold futures rose modestly in the early part of Monday’s Asian session, although traders are seen reducing their long exposure to the yellow metal.
On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for December delivery rose 0.16% to USD1,312.65 per troy ounce in Asian trading Monday. Gold futures were likely to find support at USD1,282.65 a troy ounce, Friday’s low and the weakest level since July 19 and resistance at USD1,330.55, Thursday’s high.
Gold futures inched down last Friday amid some decent U.S. data points. In U.S. economic news published last Friday, the Labor Department said the U.S. economy added 162,000 new jobs last month and the unemployment rate fell to 7.4%, a four-year low.
The Commerce Department said U.S. consumer spending rose 0.5% last month following a 0.2% increase in June. Economists expected consumer spending to rise 0.5%.
The Bureau of Economic Analysis said personal incomes rose 0.3% in July. Economists expected a 0.4% increase.
Gold lost 1.65% last week as a spate of U.S. data points turned out to be decent and U.S. stocks continued to race to record highs. Data from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission indicate hedge funds and other market participants are parting their long bets on bullion.
Traders reduced long bets on gold by 6.5% to just over 65,500 options and futures contracts for the week ending July 30, according to the data. Long bets across 18 commodities fell a net 15%, according to the CFTC.
Elsewhere, Comex silver for September delivery fell 0.18% to USD19.877 per ounce while copper for September delivery inched down 0.06% to USD3.166 per ounce. Bearish bets on copper have recently doubled.
