Gold futures began the week on a softer note Monday, falling along with other metals in electronic trading Monday as the dollar strengthened. Gold for December delivery slipped $5.50, or 0.3%, to $1,772.40 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange during Asian trading hours. The metal posted a modest 0.3% gain last week after the U.S. Federal Reserve's latest round of quantitative easing, and policy action by central banks in Europe and Japan, encouraged buyers. Gold is viewed as a safe store of value and tends to benefit from expectations of currency debasement. Strategists at Barclays Capital revised up their fourth-quarter 2012 price forecast to $1,810 an ounce, and average 2013 forecasts to $1,860 an ounce. “Real interest rates remaining negative for longer also bodes well for gold, particularly as concerns over inflation have started to build, given that (the Federal Reserve) asset purchases are open ended and focused on labor conditions," the strategists said. But a stronger dollar was providing a headwind for gold on Monday, as the ICE dollar index , which measures the U.S. unit against a basket of six major rivals, rose to 79.421, from 79.278 in North American trade late Friday. A stronger greenback is negative for dollar-priced commodities including metals as it makes them more expensive to holders of other currencies. The broader metals complex tracked gold lower, with copper the leading decliner. December copper futures slipped 3 cents, or 0.7%, to $3.76 a pound. Silver futures for the same month delivery fell 20 cents, or 0.6%, to $34.44 an ounce. October platinum futures dropped $10.30, or 0.6%, to $1,627.30 an ounce. Palladium for December delivery lost $3.15, or 0.5%, to $668.40 an ounce. Marketwatch
