Gold rises to 1-month high on weaker US dollar

Gold hit a high of $1,314.49 an ounce,its highest since June 20,and stood at $1,312.24 by 0024 GMT,up $16.50. Gold last week posted its second weekly gain after the Federal Reserve’s assurance the timing of any tapering in economic stimulus is not set in stone.

U.S. gold rose 1.49 percent to $1,312.10 anounce. The most active June 2014 gold contract on Tokyo Commodity Exchange (JAUc6> rose as high as 4,243 yen a gramme,its highest since June 20,because of a weaker yen.

Hedge funds and money managers raised their bullish bets in gold and silver futures and options in the week to July 16,while they trimmed net shorts in copper,a report by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission showed on Friday.

China’s central bank removed controls on bank lending rates,effective Saturday,in a long-awaited move that signals the new leadership’s determination to carry out market-oriented reforms.

SPDR Gold Trust GLD,the world’s largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund,said its holdings fell 0.29 percent to 932.46 tonnes on Friday from 935.17 tonnes on Thursday.

MARKET NEWS

The dollar index was down at 82.404. The yen,on the other hand,inched lower Monday after a big win at the polls by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe gave a green light for prolonged monetary stimulus.

U.S. oil futures traded above the global crude-market benchmark,North Sea Brent,for the first time since 2010 on Friday as signs of strong demand from U.S. refiners boosted spread trading and bets that the era of the U.S. discount was ending.