Gold prices rise on follow-up to US inflation developments

Gold prices rose on Monday before the release of economic data later in the week, and amid the follow-up to the inflation developments in the United States.

Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank President, Neil Kashkari, expected that the high inflation reading in the US will not continue, as well as the return of employees to the labor market in large numbers in the fall, Reuters reported.

Economic data last week showed that the personal consumption expenditures index in the US - the preferred measure of the Federal Reserve for following up on inflation, which excludes energy and food - rose to the highest level in nearly three decades in May by about 3.4%.

Spot gold fell settled at $1,782.90 per ounce, and gold futures contracts for August rose 0.4% to reach $1,784.20 per ounce, by 09:30am Makkah time.

Elsewhere, silver rose 0.5% to $26.27 per ounce, palladium gained 0.5% to hit $2,651 per ounce while platinum settled at $1,111.13 per ounce.

The US dollar index - which measures the performance of the US currency against a basket of six currencies – stabilized at 91.811 points.

The US monthly jobs report for June is due on Friday, July 2, and local expectations are for the unemployment rate to fall 0.1% to 5.7%, and the economy to add 700,000 jobs.