Gold prices rise for second straight session

Gold prices rose for the second straight session on Monday, after falling in the preceding eight, buoyed by post-holiday buying in China.

Spot gold was up 0.5 per cent at $1,262.43 an ounce by 0736 GMT.

US gold futures rose 1.0 per cent to $1,264.30 an ounce.

Bullion touched a four month low of $1,241.20 on Friday.

Spot gold ended about 4.5 per cent lower last week, its biggest weekly decline since November 2015.

Holdings of the SPDR Gold Trust, the world`s largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, rose 1.19 per cent to 958.90 tonnes on Friday.

Hedge funds and money managers reduced their net long positions in COMEX gold contracts to four-month lows in the week to Oct. 4.

Among other precious metals, silver was up 0.6 per cent at $17.61.

Platinum edged 0.5 per cent higher to $969.75 an ounce, after touching a six-month low of $946.40 on Friday.

Palladium gained about 1.0 per cent at $671.23, snapping five straight sessions of losses, according to a news agency report.