Investing.com - Gold prices eased in early Asian trade on Monday with the dollar mixed against regional and major currencies, but showing a mild gain in the dollar index. On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for December delivery inched traded at USD1,288.10 a troy ounce, down 0.11%, and in a range of 1,287.60 - 1,288.80. On Friday, the contract inched up 0.09% on Friday to settle at USD1,287.40 a troy ounce. Gold prices have largely tracked shifting expectations as to whether the Fed would start tapering its USD85-billion-a-month asset-purchase program by the end of the year. The U.S. dollar weakened on Friday after the disappointing data dampened expectations that the Fed may start to scale back its asset purchase program as soon as next month. The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback against a basket of six other major currencies, however traded at 80.95 on Monday, up 0.10%. Gold prices rallied sharply on Thursday after testimony from Federal Reserve Vice Chairwoman Janet Yellen suggested the central bank will continue supporting the U.S. economy with stimulus. Ms. Yellen said it was "imperative" that the Fed does everything in its power to ensure a robust recovery. She said the quantitative easing program would not continue indefinitely but the timescale for reducing it would be data dependent. Gold prices are down approximately 24% this year. Elsewhere on the Comex, silver for December delivery traded at USD20.773 a troy ounce, down 0.07%. It settled Friday at USD20.72 a troy ounce. Copper for December delivery fell to 3.168 a pound, down 0.13%. Comex copper prices declined 2.55% last week after top-level Communist Party meeting disappointed investors who were expecting announcements of major economic reforms. China is the world’s largest copper consumer, accounting for almost 40% of world consumption last year.

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