Spot gold was almost unchanged at $1,784.06 per ounce by 0453 GMT, just $4.90 shy of a near eight-year high hit last week. U.S. gold futures edged 0.1% higher to $1,794.30.
“The proliferation of new COVID-19 cases globally has added to lingering nerves, with investors preferring to hedge that risk via gold, even as they load up on equities again,” said Jeffrey Halley, a senior market analyst at OANDA.
Meanwhile, growing expectations of an economic rebound in China and better-than-expected U.S. services sector data lifted investor sentiment towards riskier assets.
Indicative of sentiment, speculators increased their bullish positions in COMEX gold and silver contracts in the week to June 30. Elsewhere, palladium dropped 1.1% to $1,918.87 per ounce, while platinum gained 0.7% to $818.66.
Silver eased 0.1% to $18.18.