Gold futures settled lower Monday after a lackluster session that kept the metal nearly flat.

The most-active December gold settled down 90 cents at $603.30 a troy ounce. December silver futures settled 10 cents higher at $11.64 an ounce.

The gold contract managed to hold the key $600 an ounce level but did trade as low as $602 during the session.

Analysts at MKS Finance said the yellow metal lost ground then was later "deadly quiet" before light fund selling forced oil down more than a dollar, dragging gold with it.

"We believe that gold will continue to draw direction from the U.S. dollar and crude oil price fluctuations in the short term," the analysts said. "Strong physical demand is providing a support, with for example, Turkish gold imports jumping 46.7 percent in September compared with a year ago."

The physical interest is, however, expected to calm down with China out of action for a weeklong National Day holiday, the analysts noted.

January platinum settled up $9 at $1,159.20 an ounce. December palladium settled down $2.25 at $314.15 an ounce.