Mubasher: Gold recovered on Monday from almost four-month low hit last session as trading resumed after the Easter holiday, with higher oil rates giving traction to the precious metal, according to Reuters.

By 8:05 am GMT, spot gold rose 0.23% to $1,278.43 per ounce, after trading at $1,270.63 per ounce, the lowest level since 27 December 2018, while US gold futures climbed 0.36% to $1,280.30 per ounce.

In the preceding week, the yellow metal plunged 1.2%, recording the fourth consecutive weekly drop.

“Gold prices last week have suffered from a very sharp decline, for now what is happening is just technical buying, with some people coming and pushing prices up,” Phillip Futures analyst Benjamin Lu was quoted by Reuters.

A rally in crude oil markets on Monday also has lent boost to gold prices owing to the escalating tensions between the US and Iran, with Washington is set to declare an end to waivers granted to eight major importers to sanctions against Tehran under which limited crude purchases were allowed.

“With regional equity markets possibly coming under pressure today as a result [of geopolitical tensions], gold could be a principal beneficiary in today’s session,” the news agency said, citing a note by OANDA senior market analyst Jeffrey Halley.

It is worth noting that the yellow metal is often seen as a hedge against oil-led inflation.

On the other hand, gains were limited by a stronger US dollar, after a slew of upbeat data from the US, pointing to a robust economy.

For instance, US retail trade posted last March the biggest sales growth since one year and a half, suggesting that growth picked up steam in the first quarter of this year.

At 8:12 am GMT, the US dollar index, a gauge of the greenback against a basket of six major rivals, ticked down 0.03% to 97.3480.