1st LD Writethru: Gold up strongly on risk aversion, weaker U.S. dollar

Gold futures on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange rose by more than 1 percent on Monday as traders demonstrated risk averse behavior in addition to a fall in the U.S. dollar.

The most active gold contract for June delivery rose 14.2 U.S. dollars, or 1.14 percent, to settle at 1,258 dollars per ounce.

The feature of the day was low volume and no breaking news, as there were no major economic reports released. This led to little volatility in the gold market.

Traders are looking ahead to next week as a large amount of economic data is due to be released.

Investors are expecting retail sales and producer price index, due out Wednesday, the consumer price index and weekly jobless claims, due out Thursday, and the industrial production report, due to be released on Friday.

Gold was given support as the U.S. Dollar Index, a measure of the dollar against a basket of major currencies, fell by 0.19 percent to 94.00. Gold and the dollar typically move in opposite directions.

After the release of the March Federal Reserve Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting minutes, traders initially thought the Fed would raise rates from 0.50 to 0.75 during the July FOMC meeting, but now expectations have returned for the possibility of a June meeting rate hike.

According to the CMEGroup's Fedwatch tool, the current implied probability of a hike from 0.50 to 0.75 is at 18 percent at the June 2016 meeting, and 20 percent at the July 2016 meeting.

Silver for May delivery rose 59.2 cents, or 3.85 percent, to close at 15.976 dollars per ounce. Platinum for July delivery added 22.4 dollars, or 2.31 percent, to close at 990.80 dollars per ounce. Endit