SINGAPORE (Commodity Online) : Gold remained below $1079 an ounce in Asian trade Monday as the dollar continued its rally against major currencies.

Spot gold was seen trading at $1,078.67 an ounce at 11.00 a.m Singapore time while US gold futures for April delivery inched down 0.4 per cent to $1079.30 an ounce at the same time.

On Friday, spot gold ended at $1079.20 an ounce at New York's notional close while April delivery settled at $1083.80 an ounce on the COMEX division of NYMEX.

The metal reversed an earlier gain of as much as 0.4 percent as the Dollar Index, a six- currency gauge of the dollar's value, rose to the highest level since July, 2009.

Bullion, which moves inversely to the dollar, declined for a second month as the dollar rallied 2 percent against a basket of six major currencies. The U.S. currency was at $1.3864 per euro in Tokyo from $1.3863 in New York on Jan. 29.

A stronger US dollar makes commodities denominated in the currency more expensive for holders of other currencies.

Meanwhile, Holdings in the SPDR Gold Trust, the biggest exchange- traded fund backed by bullion, slid 1.9 percent to 1,111.92 metric tons as on Jan. 29.

Investment Gold