Investing.com - Gold futures were higher for the second consecutive day on Monday, continuing to rebound from last week’s 34-month low as investors returned to the market to seek cheap valuations. On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for August delivery traded at USD1,244.35 a troy ounce during European morning hours, up 1.7% on the day. Comex gold prices rose by as much as 1.9% earlier in the session to hit a daily high of USD1,247.25 a troy ounce. Gold futures were likely to find support at USD1,180.35 a troy ounce, Friday’s low and a 34-month low and resistance at USD1,276.05, the high from June 26. The precious metal extended gains from the previous session as traders closed out bets on lower prices after futures moved into oversold territory, a move known as covering a short position. Gold prices fell to USD1,180.35 a troy ounce on Friday, the weakest level since August 3, 2010. For the quarter, the precious metal declined nearly 23% in the second quarter, the largest quarterly loss on record, amid speculation the Federal Reserve will start to unwind its bond purchasing program in the coming months. Gold prices are on track to post a loss of 27% on the year, the worst yearly decline since 1981, after rising in each of the past 12 years. Sentiment on the precious metals has been downbeat in recent months amid growing expectations the Fed will begin to taper off its bond-buying program by the end of this year. Moves in the gold price this year have largely tracked shifting expectations as to whether the U.S. central bank would end its bond-buying program sooner-than-expected. Gold traders now looked ahead to Friday’s highly-anticipated U.S. nonfarm payrolls data for indications of how the recovery in the U.S. labor market is progressing. Any improvement in the U.S. economy was likely to reinforce the view that the Federal Reserve will begin to taper its bond purchase program in the coming months. Elsewhere on the Comex, silver for September delivery rose 1.6% to trade at USD19.78 a troy ounce. On Friday, silver futures fell to a low of USD18.18 a troy ounce, the cheapest level since August 24, 2010. Meanwhile, copper for September delivery advanced 1.9% to trade at USD3.116 a pound. Copper’s strong performance came despite mounting concerns over a slowdown in Chinese manufacturing activity. China’s official manufacturing purchasing managers’ index came in at 50.1 in June, above expectations for 50.0, following a reading of 50.8 in May. Separately, China’s HSBC manufacturing PMI fell to a nine-month low of 48.2 in June, down from a preliminary reading of 48.3 and further below the 50 level that separates contraction form expansion. China is the world’s largest copper consumer, accounting for almost 40% of world consumption last year.

Source