Gold prices were little changed in Europe on Monday in line with tightly traded currencies, with activity sapped by a public holiday in the United States. Dealers and analysts were mildly bullish due to a slightly weaker outlook for the dollar, but expected prices to stay in a well-trodden $421-$428 trading band. Spot gold stood at $427.00/427.70 per troy ounce by 1508 GMT from $427.05/427.80 in New York on Friday, where markets closed early ahead of the long weekend.

"The market has hardly moved and only looked at the euro - the US holiday has pretty much killed things today," a dealer said.

The dollar held broadly steady as markets sat back to await this week's US data for clues on the pace of interest rate rises there. The euro was last at $1.3054.

US consumer price data on Wednesday will be closely watched, as higher inflation could prompt the Federal Reserve to accelerate its tightening campaign.

Higher US interest rates tend to boost demand for the dollar and dull that of gold for non-US investors.

Gold market analysts have maintained a bullish picture for bullion this year, with the market seen possibly moving beyond last December's 16-1/2-year peak of $456.75 as they expect the dollar to fall.

Alexander Zumpfe of Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein said the short-term outlook was neutral to cautiously bullish, with the next upside target at $432 - last seen in early January.

"The overall upward trend remains intact with trend indicators like moving averages...pointing to the upside. However, for a significant move higher it requires the usual support from the currency side," Zumpfe said in a report.

Spot silver was flat from New York levels on Friday at $7.37/7.40 per ounce.

Platinum fell to $860.00/865.00 from $863.00/868.00, while palladium eased to $177.00/182.00 from $179.00/184.00.

Copyright Reuters, 2005