Gold futures prices pulled back Monday as stocks stabilized but the metal remained within striking distance of the multi-month highs grazed last week when equities were rocked lower and investors sought gold’s relative safety.
December gold GCZ8, -0.20% fell $3.60, or 0.3%, to $1,232.20 an ounce. With a mild gain Friday, the contract tacked on 0.6% for last week—its fourth weekly rise in a row. The late week’s subdued move, however, left gold, at Friday’s settlement, a buck short of the roughly three-month high it settled at earlier last week.
Still, for October, gold is so far up 3.3% on the heels of six consecutive monthly declines.
“The short-term picture remains bullish overall,” said Marios Hadjikyriacos, an analyst at brokerage XM.
December silver SIZ8, +0.37% added 2 cents, or 0.1%, to $14.715 an ounce. It ended just in positive territory last week.
A selloff in global equities amid rising geopolitical and economic uncertainty had pushed gold back above $1,200 an ounce, with buying and short covering driven by increased risk aversion. Investor flows into bullion, often considered a haven and store of value during times of stress, also continued to increase, as shown by inflows into physically backed exchange-traded products, analysts have said.
Stocks pointed to a higher start Monday.
The popular SPDR Gold Shares exchange-traded fund GLD, +0.32% slipped 0.3%.
Read: Copper weakness hints at economic woes ahead
Providing critical information for the U.S. trading day. Subscribe to MarketWatch’s free Need to Know newsletter. Sign up here.