Investing.com - Gold prices ticked lower in Asia on Monday in holiday thined trade with Australia and New Zealand shut for holidays.
On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for June delivery traded at $1,292.20 a troy ounce, down 0.13%. The Comex was closed for Good Friday.
Gold prices ended last week sharply lower under pressure after upbeat U.S. data on manufacturing and employment pointed to underlying strength in the economy.
The Labor Department reported the number of people filing for unemployment benefits edged up to 304,000, below analysts’ forecasts and not far from the six-and-a-half year low of 300,000 touched the previous week.
A separate report showed that manufacturing activity in the Philadelphia region strengthened more than forecast in April.
Concerns over the crisis in eastern Ukraine over the weekend however offered support.
Concerns over weakening demand from top buyer China also weighed on gold prices.
Silver futures for May delivery fell 0.12% to $19.572 a troy ounce on the Comex. Copper futures for May delivery eased 0.41% to $3.037 a pound.
Also markets in the U.K. and the euro zone are to remain closed for Easter Monday.