China's August manufacturing and services PMI later today, the Caixin PMI tomorrow and US ISM manufacturing data on Wednesday were expected to show slight improvements, Pepperstone head of research Chris Weston said.

Meanwhile the gold price has climbed back up to more than US$1,971 an ounce on the spot market.

India's gold imports hit a five-month high in July "as market returns in premium," the World Gold Council's Mukesh Kumar said last week.

Copper rose again on the London Metal Exchange, closing up 0.85% to $6,697.50 per tonne.

Freeport-McMoRan closed up 5% in New York on Friday, the day a week-long protest reportedly ended at the Grasberg copper-gold mine in Indonesia after workers' demands, to reinstate a bus service and receive a bonus payment, were met.

A PT Freeport Indonesia spokesperson told Reuters the local government had agreed to ease COVID-19 restrictions and workers would be allowed to visit the nearby town, with the 4,600 workers who had not taken leave since April being prioritised.

Elsewhere, the Western Australian government is moving to regulate copper, similar to other metals like gold and silver, to tackle the growing problem of copper theft in the state.

Rio Tinto closed up 0.55% in London on Friday and BHP was up a similar amount in morning Australian trade.