By Gina Lee

Investing.com – Gold was up on Monday morning in Asia, firming in volatile trading. The yellow metal gained some strength from a weaker currency, but losses were limited by a shift towards Asia’s riskier assets.

By 12:47 ET (or 4:47 GMT), the price of $1,858.85 had increased by 0.41%

“With the three-day holiday in the U.S., which means lower liquidity than usual, and a lack of top-tier data until Wednesday, we may find that gold will remain nailed to its tight range around $1,850 unless a new catalyst arrives,” City Index senior market analyst Matt Simpson told Reuters.

Federal government offices and stock and bond markets will close on Monday for Memorial Day in the U.S.

Since hitting a three-month low at $1,786.60 an ounce May 16, 2022, gold has been showing a positive trend. The price of gold is expected to drop 2.4% for the second month in succession, for its first monthly decline since March 2021.

“A large part of gold’s underperformance has been due to investors moving to cash as equity markets fell, whilst lockdowns in China also dented demand. Typically, June is a bearish month for gold but that seasonal pattern appears to have been shifted forward by one month,” said Simpson.

While the U.S. dollar was higher than its counterparts, investors bet on a gradual slowdown in U.S. tightening. However, this is despite sharp increases in June and Jul 2022.

Other precious market prices edged up 0.1% and firmed 0.1% at $954.51. The price of gold rose 0.8%.