Gold prices rise marginally to hit 2-week high

Gold prices rose marginally on Monday, nearing a two-week high, as investors awaited the release of more economic data in the United States for clues about the Federal Reserve's interest rate plans.

Gold prices fell the most in four years in June, amid the dollar's strength and the Federal Reserve's support to tighten monetary policy earlier than expected.

Spot gold settled at $1,788.36 per ounce, and gold futures contracts for August rose 0.2% to reach $1,787.10 per ounce, by 09:30am GMT. This was after recording $1,794.86 per ounce last week, which is a level higher since June 18.

Elsewhere, silver rose 0.6% to $26.67 per ounce, palladium gained 0.1% to hit $2,796.50 per ounce, and platinum increased by 0.6% to $1,100.76 per ounce.

The US dollar index - which measures the performance of the US currency against a basket of six currencies – stabilized at 92.268 points.