2019.04.2214:26:00UTC+00Gold Futures Settle Slightly Higher

Gold prices ended marginally up on Monday, recovering slightly from near 4-month lows touched late last week. A sharp rise in crude oil prices and sluggish stock markets supported the yellow metal.

However, gains were just marginal as the dollar displayed some strength early on in the session.

Gold futures for June settled at $1,277.60 an ounce, up $1.60, or 0.13%, from previous close.

On Thursday, gold futures ended down $0.80, or about 0.06%, at $1,276.00 an ounce, after plunging 1.1% a couple of sessions earlier.

Silver futures for May settled at $14.975 an ounce, up $0.020 from Thursday's close.

Copper futures for May ended down $0.0185, at $2.9015 per pound.

Crude oil's jump supported gold a bit. Oil prices soared today after the U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced that the country will not extend waivers to buy Iranian crude oil for five countries Turkey, India, China, South Korea and Japan when those waivers expire early next month.

U.S. President Donald Trump posted on Twitter that the U.S. and other big oil producers will more than make up for any loss of Iranian oil.

Equities were largely subdued today as investors stayed reluctant to make significant moves ahead of first quarter results from several top ranking companies during the course of this week.

In U.S. economic news today, a report released by the National Association of Realtors showed existing home sales in the country plunged by 4.9% to an annual rate of 5.21 million in March after soaring by 11.2% to a revised rate of 5.48 million in February.

Economists had expected existing home sales to tumble by 3.8% to a rate of 5.30 million from the 5.51 million originally reported for the previous month.

With the monthly drop, existing home sales in March were down by 5.4% compared to 5.51 million in the same month a year ago.

"It is not surprising to see a retreat after a powerful surge in sales in the prior month," said NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun. "Still, current sales activity is underperforming in relation to the strength in the jobs markets. The impact of lower mortgage rates has not yet been fully realized."

The Commerce Department's report on new home sales for March, is due on Tuesday. New home sales are expected to drop to an annual rate of 650,000 in March after jumping to a rate of 667,000 in February.