Gold Price Close To 2-Week High In Market Trade On Monday

Gold held near a two-week high on Monday on prospects of more safe-haven buying, with the U.S. dollar under pressure from weaker-than-expected economic data and speculation the Federal Reserve could ease policy further to boost growth.

The U.S. economy, the world's largest, expanded at a 2.2 percent annual rate in the first three months of the year, below economists' expectations of a 2.5 percent pace.

Fundamentals

Spot gold hardly changed at $1,663.04 an ounce by 0013 GMT, heading for its third monthly decline. Bullion had risen to $1,667.11 on Friday, its strongest showing since April 13, after disappointing U.S. growth and European debt jitters boosted investment demand.

U.S. gold for June was little changed at $1,664.20 an ounce.

Thousands of people protested across Spain on Sunday against government cuts aimed at tackling a debt crisis that has pushed the country back into recession and sent unemployment close to 25 percent.

Gold traders in India, the world's top buyer of bullion, refrained from buying amid a peak wedding season, thwarted by a huge stockpile and prices that hit a more than four-month high.

Market News

The U.S. dollar stayed under pressure on Monday in the wake of disappointing first-quarter U.S. economic growth, leaving the yen, sterling, and even high-beta currencies such as the Australian dollar at multiweek highs.

U.S. stocks advanced on Friday and posted their best weekly gains in a month as stronger-than-expected earnings from Amazon.com Inc. and Expedia Inc. reinforced confidence in corporate performance.

(Reporting by Lewa Pardomuan; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani)