Gold hovered below $600 an
ounce on Monday after oil weakened on doubts about OPEC's
pledge to cut output, with the metal's failure to hold on to
last week's gains likely to exasperate some investors.
 The physical sector was slow in Southeast Asia, with main
buyer Indonesia away for the Muslim Eid al-Fitr holiday this
week. Markets in Thailand were closed on Monday for King
Chulalongkorn Day.
 Spot gold hit an intraday high of $592.50 an ounce
and was at $592.00/593.00 by 0512 GMT, steady from
$591.90/592.90 in late New York trade.
 "If it keeps going sideways, investors are going to get
impatient with it anyway," said commodities analyst Tobin Gorey
of Commonwealth Bank of Australia.
 Shares in Australian gold miners suffered, with Lihir Gold
Ltd. down 1.4 percent, Newcrest Mining Ltd.
down 0.89 percent and Oxiana Ltd. down 1.5 percent.
 Gold rose to its highest in more than two weeks at $602.20
on Friday before selling kicked in after crude oil reversed
gains. It often takes its direction from the oil market as
rising energy costs tend to boost its appeal as a hedge against
inflation.
 Dealers said gold would have to break resistance at $605
and stay above that level to prevent investors from liquidating
their positions. It is now trading around $130 an ounce lower
than the 26-year high of $730 hit in mid-May.
 "It had another failure at the highs. It proves to me that
things are a bit bearish. But I reckon a close above $605 will
make us change our mind," said a dealer in Sydney.
 Crude oil fell due to doubts about OPEC's resolve to
curb output and high U.S. inventories.
 OPEC announced a surprise agreement to curb output by 1.2
million barrels per day on Friday -- larger than an expected
cut of 1 million bpd. It was the deepest cut since January 2002
and equal to about 4.3 percent of September supply.
 "My customers are telling me they have already bought
enough gold. Maybe we would have to test the lower end before
testing $600 again," said a dealer in Singapore.
 "Actually, I am lost about the market," he said.
 Key gold futures on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange,
currently August 2007, fell 24 yen per gram to 2,283 yen,
reflecting declines in New York's COMEX market.
 Dealers were also watching the currency market ahead of a
Federal Reserve policy meeting.
 The Fed is widely expected to keep its funds rate at 5.25
percent when it concludes the two-day meeting on Wednesday.
 The dollar inched up to 118.80 yen from 118.70 yen
in late U.S. trade. The euro was little changed at $1.2615.
 Platinum fell to $1,075/1,080 an ounce from
$1,076/1,081 late in New York. Palladium fell to
$322.50/327.50 an ounce from $325/330 in New York.
 Silver edged down to $11.84/11.91 an ounce from
$11.85/11.92 late in New York.