Spot gold rose by 0.4 percent reaching $1,238.46 per ounce after it slid to $1,228.25 on Friday, February 6, hit by a strong US dollar after solid US jobs data was reported. Experts point out that gold's volatility could have been caused by numerous issues, including US interest rate hike talks as well as concerns over the future of Greece and its austerity policies. It is believed that gold prices will fluctuate for the next few weeks.
The rise in gold bullion was bolstered by increased physical gold purchases in China on the eve of its Lunar New Year holiday, February 19-20, experts note. Chinese gold buyers traditionally boost the gold market ahead of the holiday. So far, Chinese premiums mounted to $4-$5 an ounce on Monday with the highest volumes traded on the Shanghai Gold Exchange this week.
Meanwhile, spot silver rose by 1.3 percent to $16.89 an ounce, and palladium remains at $779.50 an ounce. Platinum dropped 0.9 percent to $1,209 an ounce.
