Investing.com - Gold prices edged modestly higher in rangebound trade on Monday, as investors looked ahead to key U.S. economic data later in the day for further indications on the future course of U.S. monetary policy.
On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for April delivery held between USD1,241.50 a troy ounce and USD1,246.90 an ounce.
The April contract last traded at USD1,243.00 an ounce during European morning hours, up 0.25%.
Gold futures ended Friday’s session down 0.22% to settle at USD1,239.80 an ounce. Prices were likely to find support at USD1,230.80 a troy ounce, the low from January 23 and resistance at USD1,270.70, the high from January 29.
Meanwhile, silver for March delivery traded at USD19.16 a troy ounce, up 0.2%.
The U.S. Institute of Supply Management is to produce data on manufacturing activity for January later in the session, a leading economic indicator. January’s highly-anticipated nonfarm payrolls report is scheduled for Friday.
Market players have closely been looking out for U.S. data reports recently to gauge if they will strengthen or weaken the case for the Federal Reserve to scale back stimulus.
The central bank tapered its monthly asset purchase program by another USD10 billion to USD65 billion a month last week, citing improvements in the labor market.
Some market participants believe the Fed will taper its bond purchases by USD10 billion in each of its next six meetings before ending the program in December 2014, amid indications of an improving U.S. economy.
The Fed said it will keep a close eye on economic indicators before deciding to wind down its stimulus program even further.
Data from the Commodities Futures Trading Commission released Friday showed that hedge funds and money managers raised their bullish bets in gold futures in the week ending January 28.
Net longs totaled 60,672 contracts, compared to 43,353 in the preceding week.
Elsewhere on the Comex, copper futures for March delivery fell 0.02% to trade at USD3.196 a pound, the lowest since December 4.
China's official non-manufacturing PMI slipped to its lowest level since December 2008 in January, falling to 53.4 from 54.6 in December.
The deterioration in the services sector adds to declining manufacturing PMIs. Data released over the weekend showed that China’s official manufacturing PMI fell to a six-month low of 50.5 in January from 51.0 in December.
China is the world’s largest copper consumer, accounting for almost 40% of world consumption last year.
