2019.12.2318:37:00UTC+00Gold Futures Settle Near 6-week High

Gold prices moved higher and settled at near six-week high on Monday, as the dollar pared early gains and turned flat.

However, volume of business was thin due to the upcoming Christmas and New Year holidays.

The dollar index, which eased to 97.58 from an early high of 97.82, was last seen hovering around 97.70, up slightly from previous close.

Gold futures for February ended up $7.80, or about 0.5%, at $1,488.70 an ounce.

On Friday, gold futures for February ended down $3.50, or 0.2%, at $1,480.90 an ounce.

Silver futures for March ended up $0.275 at $17.499 an ounce, while Copper futures for March settled at $2.8085 per pound, gaining $0.0025 for the session.

In economic news, data released by the Commerce Department showed an unexpected slump in new orders for U.S. manufactured durable goods in the month of November.

The report said durable goods orders plunged by 2% in November after edging up by a downwardly revised 0.2% in October.

Economists had expected durable goods orders to jump by 1.5% compared to the 0.5% increase that had been reported for the previous month.

Another report released by the Commerce Department showed a significant increase in U.S. new home sales in the month of November. The report said new home sales jumped by 1.3% to an annual rate of 719,000 after plunging by 2.7% to a revised rate of 710,000 in October.

Economists had expected new home sales to inch up by 0.1% to 734,000 from the 733,000 originally reported for the previous month.

On the trade front, U.S. President Donald Trump on Saturday said the United States and China would "very shortly" sign their so-called Phase One trade pact.

Trump also said that China already started large scale purchases of ?.S. farm goods and that the talks with the country were productive.

However, he didn't give a date for when the so-called "phase one" agreement will actually be signed,