Hedge funds and money managers increased their net long positions in COMEX gold in the week Online Cigarettes Store USA to May 28, data showed.
Indicating improved investor interest in gold, holdings of SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed Newport Pleasure -traded fund, rose 0.32 percent to 743.21 tonnes on Friday from Thursday.
In other precious metals, silver edged up 0.6% to $14.65 per ounce; platinum rose 1% to $799.73 per ounce, after having fallen to its lowest level since Feb. 15 at $784.42, last week; and palladium rose 1.7% to $1,347.10 per ounce. U.S. stock futures and commodity prices slipped while bonds rallied on Monday on worries an intensifying Sino-U.S. trade tussle and Washington's new tariff threats against Mexico could tip the global economy into a recession.
The E-mini futures for S&P500 dropped 0.5% in Asian trade to 2,738, near their March low of 2,722 while Japan's Nikkei skidded 1.1% to a four-month low.
European shares are expected to follow suit, with futures for Britain's FTSE and Germany's DAX down 0.5% and 0.8%, respectively.
Ex-Japan Asia fared better as gains in South Korea and India offset weakness elsewhere, with MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan up 0.35%.
The CSI 300 index of Chinese shares was little changed.
A private survey on Chinese manufacturing sector published on Monday suggested a modest expansion Newport Pleasure in factory activity as export orders bounced from a contraction.
Yet economists noted the increase in new export orders point to possible front-loading of U.S.-bound shipments to avoid potential tariff hikes that U.S. President Donald Trump had threatened to slap on another $300 billion of Chinese goods.