Gold futures fell toward $940 an ounce on COMEX on Monday, losing 1 percent in thin volume, as the dollar strengthened against the basket of currencies. The surge in crude oil prices which generally provide support to gold prices couldn’t lend any support to gold yesterday.

Silver futures ended flat on COMEX taking support from the rise in industrial metals on LME. It surged by 0.1 percent on MCX.

Peru's production of gold and silver rose by 9 and 3.16 percent, the mining ministry said on Monday. Peru, a leading global metals exporter, is the world's top producer of silver, No. 2 in copper and zinc, and ranks sixth in gold.

The world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, the SPDR Gold Trust, said holdings stood at 1,066.41 tonnes as of Aug. 24, unchanged from the previous business day.

ETFS Silver Trust, a U. S. exchange-traded product (ETP) trading on the New York Stock Exchange, said its silver bullion holdings exceeded $100 million, underscoring strong interest in the grey metal among retail investors.

The U. S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission said it obtained more than $27 million in restitution related to fraud charges against Martin Armstrong, a former trader and financial advisor accused of failing to produce millions of dollars in gold bars and rare coins.

The dollar strengthened against a basket of currencies on Monday, putting downward pressure on gold by making dollar priced commodities more expensive for holders of other currencies.

We expect Gold prices to trade sideways to down during the day as weaker crude oil prices coupled with a stronger dollar may trigger a downside in precious metals. Silver too may trade lower following the weakness in industrial metals.