Gold Rose 2%

Gold prices gained more than two percent to touch their highest in nearly four weeks on Monday, tracking strong gains in New York and firm oil prices, dealers said.

But trading remained thin, exposing gold to sharp price fluctuations as U.S. markets would be closed on Monday and Tuesday for the Independence Day holiday.

"Gold is still benefiting from the rally late last week, resulting from a less hawkish Fed statement and the accompanying dollar weakness," said Yingxi Yu, analyst at Barclays Capital, referring to last week's statement by the U.S. Federal Reserve signalling a softening of monetary policy.

Spot gold soared to of $625.05 an ounce before easing to $622.20/623.20 by 1326 GMT, against $612.60/613.60 last quoted in New York on Friday.