Gold steadies

Bengaluru

Gold prices held steady early on Monday as the dollar firmed, with the precious metal trading below an intra-day nine-month high hit on Friday when political and security concerns jangled investors´ nerves and stoked demand.

Spot gold was nearly unchanged at $1,283.30 an ounce by 0111 GMT, after surging to its highest in over nine months on Friday at $1300.80.  U.S. gold futures for December delivery slipped 0.2 percent to $1,289.40 per ounce. The dollar edged up in early Asian trading, moving tentatively away from the previous session´s four-month low against the yen when concerns that personnel changes at the White House weighed on expectations for U.S. President Donald Trump´s ability to pass tax reform and stimulus steps.

The Federal Reserve on Friday raised its estimate of U.S. gross domestic product growth for the third quarter above 2 percent based on this week´s data on retail sales, industrial output and regional manufacturing.