December delivery gold finished at $467 an ounce, off $2.10 on the day, at the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, after trading from $465.20 to $470.80.
The gold market was on the defensive after prices at first fell overnight on Far Eastern selling and later were pressured by cheaper oil and a relatively firm dollar, said James Quinn, commodities commentator at AG Edwards & Sons in New York.
"Crude was lower and that didn't help gold, and Asian profit taking overnight also put a little pressure on the market," he said.
After gold gyrated during the day, it ultimately ended down as the stock market rose after President Bush named his top economic advisor, Ben Bernanke, to succeed Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, removing uncertainty over the pick.
Bernanke immediately said his first priority as Fed chief would be to ensure continuity with the Greenspan era.
After the COMEX close, gold was a few ticks higher as the euro later rose against the dollar on the Bernanke news.
"If gold can hold above support at $466, maybe it can work its way back toward the $472 area," AG Edwards' Quinn said
"We hold our one-month forecast of $440/oz (in spot gold), although we suspect that the correction will be short-lived and gold (will hit) $455/oz in three months," he said.
The non-commercial net long position in COMEX gold futures fell to 170,424 contracts as of last Tuesday, from 177,410 lots a week earlier, according to the latest weekly CFTC Commitments of Traders report.
Trading sources put support in COMEX December futures at $465 and $457, with resistance at $483 an ounce and, eventually, at the psychological $500 level.
Oil shed about 0.4 percent on Monday, sinking to just above $60 a barrel after Hurricane Wilma bypassed storm-battered US oil and gas facilities in the Gulf of Mexico.
Final estimated COMEX gold volume hit 42,000 lots, against Friday's tally of 54,651 lots.
Open interest fell 5,953 lots to 335,513 lots on October 21. Spot gold was quoted at $465.00/465.70 an ounce, from $466.50/467.25 in New York late on Friday. Monday's afternoon fix in London by bullion dealers was at $466.10.
December silver rose 1.3 cents to $7.708 an ounce, trading from $7.64 $7.75.
The fund net long position in COMEX silver rose to 54,246 contracts in the latest week, from 51,367 lots previously.
Spot silver changed hands at $7.64/67 an ounce in late trade, flat from Friday's close. The fix was at $7.615.
NYMEX January platinum was unchanged at $932.80 an ounce. Spot reached $926/929.
December palladium climbed $1.75 to $213.80 an ounce. Spot was worth $207/211.