The price of gold was moving higher Monday morning even as the US dollar was trading steady versus a basket of currencies ahead of this week's macroeconomic data.
Gold for August delivery, the most actively traded contract, moved up $3.80 to $1,281.40 an ounce. Last week gold surged over 5 percent to settle at a near three-week high, with the dollar weakening against some major currencies after the U.S. Federal Reserve indicated it would continue to maintain its quantitative easing policy.
Holdings of SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, were unchanged at 939.07 tons.
Meanwhile, the U.S. dollar was moving higher versus the euro and sterling, while trading firm versus the Swiss franc and the yen.
In economic news from the euro zone, the number of employees in the German manufacturing sector increased modestly in May, preliminary data released by the Federal Statistical Office showed. The number of persons employed in manufacturing units with 50 or more employees, increased 0.6 percent on an annual basis to 5.2 million in May.
Switzerland's producer and import prices rose 0.2 percent year-on-year in June, offsetting the 0.2 percent decrease in May, the Federal Statistical Office reported. It was forecast to increase by 0.3 percent.
Elsewhere, the prices of silver and platinum were ticking higher in morning deals.
From the U.S., the Commerce Department will release its retail sales report for June at 8:30 am ET. Economists expect retail sales growth of 0.8 percent month-over-month for June, while retail sales, excluding autos, may have risen by 0.5 percent.
Simultaneously, the New York Federal Reserve is due to release the results of its manufacturing survey for July. The consensus estimates call for a small decline in the general business conditions index to 5 in July from 7.84 in June.
Later during the session, the Commerce Department will release its business inventories report for May. Economists expect business inventories to have remained unchanged in May following a 0.3 percent increase in April.
