LONDON: Gold rose on Monday as a retreat in the dollar helped it build on last week’s gains but moves were muted with markets awaiting a US presidential debate for pointers as to the outcome of November’s election.

The precious metal rose more than 2 per cent last week, its biggest weekly gain in nearly two months, thanks chiefly to the US Federal Reserve’s cautious tone on interest rates after its policy meeting on Wednesday.

Spot gold was at $1,340.93 an ounce at 1435 GMT, up 0.3pc, while US gold futures for December delivery were $3.40 an ounce higher at $1,345.10.

“The dollar is a bit weaker since this morning, but also the oil price is much higher and this is contributing to some uptrends in commodities in general,” Commerzbank analyst Eugen Weinberg said.

Oil rallied on Monday as the world’s largest producers gathered in Algeria to discuss ways to support the market.

Weakness in risk appetite weighed on the more industrial precious metals, with platinum down 0.6pc at $1,043.99 and palladium 1pc lower at $692.97. Silver was down 0.3pc at $19.58.

Published in Dawn, September 27th, 2016