LONDON, Sept 29: Gold lost ground in Europe on Monday as a stronger dollar extended the profit-taking that took hold after the market rallied to more than seven-year highs last week.

Dealers said they were looking to the New York market opening later to see if speculators would continue to use the stronger dollar as an opportunity to get out of their long positions, but the market could still work higher in the next few days.

We’ve moved back into the area where support is at its strongest and we’re a little bit range-bound. The range at the moment is $378.00/382.00 although I don’t think that $382.00 will be breached today, said Peter Hillyard, head of bullion sales at ANZ bank.

Spot gold was at $379.60/380.30 an ounce, compared with $380.60/1.10 in New York late on Friday. London dealers fixed Monday’s morning spot reference price at $379.85.

The euro was at $1.1408/13 after hitting a low of $1.1397 earlier.—Reuters