Gold futures contract declined on Monday as the concerns over the euro zone debt situation remained the center of discussion. Despite positive comments from French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel who supported the goal of foster growth and job creation. However, the weaker greenback supported the gold prices and kept them above $1,600 per ounce. The commodities always move in opposite direction of the US dollar as the weaker greenback makes the gold less expensive for the investors holding other currencies.

Gold futures contract for February contract fell 0.5 percent or $8.70 to settle at $1,608.10 at the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The respective contract touched its intraday high of $1,624.60 per ounce.

Senior market strategist, Charles Nedoss from Olympus Futures in Chicago commented, “The good news is we are holding on to $1,600 an ounce, Volumes are still not back at usual levels.”

Among other base metals, copper futures for March delivery declined 0.6 percent or $0.19 to $3.42 per pound while silver futures contract for the same month delivery gained 0.4 percent or $0.10 to settle at $28.78 per ounce.

Platinum futures for April delivery jumped 1.5 percent or $21.40 to settle at $1429.60 per ounce while its sister metal palladium futures contract for March delivery surged 0.6 percent or $3.85 to settle at $617.85 per ounce.