Gold futures settle lower; copper gains following a sharp loss last week

Gold futures settled with a loss on Monday, while copper edged higher following a sharp decline last week. For gold, much attention was given to the news that the Group of Seven nations would announce a ban on new Russian gold, but "Western countries have already been limiting their transactions with Russia, so this ban would merely confirm what most were already doing," said Edward Moya, senior market analyst at OANDA. Copper, meanwhile, recouped a small portion of its loss last week, when worries about a slowdown in economic activity prompted the metal to suffer its biggest weekly percentage loss in about a year. August gold declined $5.50, or 0.3%, to settle at $1,824.80 an ounce. July copper settled at $3.7625 a pound, up 2 cents, or 0.6%.

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