LONDON, Feb 2 : Gold prices fell almost 3 per cent on Monday as speculators booked profits after investment demand pushed prices up last week to near four-month highs.

Spot gold was at $912.65/914.25 compared with $927.00 in New York late on Friday. It fell as low as $902.20.

Silver was at $12.38/12.44 from $12.96.

Platinum at $970.50/980.50 from $985.50. Palladium at $191.5/196.5 from $191.00.

India’s gold eased from its all-time high on Monday, but domestic demand remained slack as buyers waited for prices to correct further as scrap gold continued to pour in, dealers and traders said.

The volume of gold jewellery sales in Abu Dhabi slid 70 per cent in January, as rising prices and the impact of the slowing global economy on consumers crimped buying, the emirate’s industry group said on Sunday.

MOSCOW: Shares in Russian gold miners rose on Monday, lifted by last week’s spike in the gold price, and traders also noted activity around Polyus Gold as newspapers reported on possible merger activity by its owners.

Polyus rose as much as 10 percent during the trading day before settling near 1100 roubles, up 8pc. Its peer Polymetal rose 6.58 per cent to 167.30 roubles.

Gold was down 3 percent on Monday after investor demand pushed the precious metal near four-month highs last week.

Anyone who is looking for a different reason (for gold shares to rise) is mistaken Troika Dialog analyst Mikhail Stiskin said.

Polyus’ main shareholders are Mikhail Prokhorov and Vladimir Potanin, who split their holdings in Norilsk Nickel earlier this year.

Prokhorov is seen as cash rich, while Potanin has been among the Russian metals tycoons to propose mergers among miners to strengthen their balance sheets Polyus has not been included in any of the merger schemes to appear in newspapers, but analysts believe it could in theory, since it is still jointly held by Potanin and Prokhorov on a parity basis.

Some people may think that gold miners are a safe haven right now Uralsib head of trading Andrei Kukk said.—Reuters