Gold cheaper together with shares, oil and the euro due to profit taking following the price increase to a maximum of 6.5 months last week.

Last week, the price rose by 2 percent a day after the U.S. Federal Reserve announced the start of the third stage of "quantitative easing" - buying mortgage-bonds to $ 40 billion a month.

In Europe, investors focused on concerns regarding the banking system in Spain and Greece's ability to make budget cuts necessary to obtain further financial support.

October futures price of gold on the COMEX is now 1766.4 dollars per ounce.