Gold lowers

Bengaluru

Gold edged lower on Monday to touch a near four-week low as the dollar held firm, with the market waiting on comments from a top U.S. Federal Reserve official after last week´s soft economic data.

New York Fed President William Dudley, a close ally of Fed Chair Janet Yellen, is due to take part in a roundtable with local business leaders in Plattsburgh, New York.

"If Dudley confirms that the Fed will remain hawkish towards interest rate hikes, I do not think gold will be able to recover anytime soon," said Argonaut Securities analyst Helen Lau.  Spot gold fell 0.1 percent to $1,252.40 per ounce as of 0428 GMT. It hit a fresh low of $1,250.80 during the session, its lowest since May 24. U.S. gold futures for August delivery fell 0.2 percent to $1,254.20 an ounce.  Although the Fed raised rates last week, weaker economic data has cast doubts over the central bank´s ability to pursue an aggressive monetary policy for the rest of the year.