Gold was becalmed and heading for its first monthly decline this year so far.
The spot price has tumbled almost US$100 since US Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen indicated interest rates may rise earlier than expected, though there was a hint of backtracking over the weekend.
This week sees the latest non-farm payroll number, which if strong could unsettle the gold price further, but in her first public speech since taken over as head of the Fed, Yellen defended low interest rates and the monthly bond-buying programme saying the US economy still contained "considerable" spare capacity.
"I think this extraordinary commitment is still needed and will be for some time,” she told the 2014 National Interagency Community Reinvestment Conference.
Gold has been buoyed by the expansionist policies adopted by the US and other countries since the credit crunch, but the possibility that interest rates may rise soon would mark a change of tack and has boosted the US dollar. Gold and the US currency traditionally move in opposite directions.
The price has had little support from the retail market recently, with this period traditionally quiet in China, while demand from India is still being curbed by the tight import controls imposed by the government.
Spot gold was US$1 lower at US$1,293, silver added a little to US$ 19.84 while platinum picked US$10 to US$1,416.
Major movers
Randgold Resources up 5p at 4,539p
Fresnillo up 4p at 855p
Anglo American up 30p at 1,539p.