Gold held below $1,600 an ounce on Tuesday as a slightly brighter than expected reading of euro zone manufacturing activity lifted stock markets, diverting interest from bullion. Spot gold according to Reuters report hit an intraday high of $1,603.60 an ounce in the first session after the Easter break, but it was unable to hold on to gains and dipped to $1,596.81 by 1151 GMT, down 0.1 percent on the day.
Investors were reluctant to build significant positions ahead of Bank of Japan and European Central Bank policy meetings on Thursday and U.S. payroll numbers on Friday, however.
The metal snapped three weeks of gains last week to fall 0.7 percent, but managed to post a 1.1 percent rise in March. It fell 4.6 percent in the first quarter.
U.S. gold futures for June delivery were down 0.2 percent at $1,597.80 an ounce.
“Gold has not really found the catalyst to take it out of the range we have seen for few weeks, and weaker data haven’t made much impact as key macro events are still to come later in the week,” Saxo Bank senior manager Ole Hansen said.
