Benchmark Comex gold futures traded nearly 1% higher in early Monday afternoon trade in East Asia, while reports said that Germany had rejected calls to use its gold reserves to help shore up the euro-zone rescue fund. Gold for December delivery  was up 0.9% at $1,771.50 per troy ounce on Comex, gaining from its Friday settlement of $1,755.70 in New York.

German newspapers reported over the weekend that leaders at the Group of 20 summit in Cannes, France, had floated the idea that the Bundesbank’s gold reserves could be used to underpin the European Financial Stability Facility, but that the plan was a quickly rejected by senior German officials. – MarketWatch