Mubasher: Gold prices rose on Monday to settle at two-month highs on weaker benchmark stock indices and wavering US dollar.

December gold futures rose $8.30 or 0.7%, ending at $1,230.30 per ounce. This marked the highest settlement for a most active contract since 31 July, according to FactSet data.

By 8:01 pm GMT, spot gold rose 0.70% to $1,225.53 per ounce, while the US dollar index dipped 0.12% to 95.1100. 

 “The yellow metal has risen as investors are seeking safety as global [equities] continue to drop,” OANDA chief market analyst Alfonso Esparza told MarketWatch.

Rising prices came as the Shanghai Composite Index slipped 4.3% to the lowest level in four years, while Japan's benchmark Nikkei slid to 8-week trough.

In addition, “geopolitics events have snowballed around the globe and traders have to value the possible impacts of a trade war between the US and China, Brexit negotiations, monetary policy divergence between major central banks and a global growth slowdown,” Esparza said.

Minutes from the September Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting due to be released on Wednesday would offer more insight into the Federal Reserve’s plans as it could reverse the direction of the US dollar and weigh on the gold, he noted.