Gold on a high as US slump spooks investors.

Gold hit three-month highs on Monday, adding to gains after posting its biggest weekly rise in six months, as fears over US economic growth and a weaker dollar sent investors seeking the safe-haven metal.

Spot gold rose 0.3 per cent to $US1322.24 an ounce by 11.26am AEDT after hitting $US1323.76 earlier in the session – its highest since November.

The metal jumped 4 per cent last week, its biggest weekly gain since August.

US gold futures rose for a ninth session – their longest winning streak since July 2011.

US manufacturing output unexpectedly fell in January, recording its biggest drop in more than four-and-a-half years, as cold weather disrupted production in the latest indication the economy got off to a weak start this year.

Hedge fund Paulson & Co maintained its stake in the world's biggest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, SPDR Gold Trust, in the fourth quarter, even as others exited when bullion prices posted their biggest annual loss in 32 years.

SPDR Gold Trust's holdings fell 5.10 tonnes to 801.25 tonnes on Friday.

Hedge funds and money managers raised their bets in gold futures and options to a three-month high on signs that the Federal Reserve will not rush to cut its stimulus, Commodity Futures Trading Commission data showed on Friday.

Gold premiums in India, the world's second-biggest consumer of the metal after China, fell 17 per cent on Friday to their lowest in four months as buyers postponed purchases on speculation over a possible cut in import duty soon.

Anglo American Platinum said it was suing South Africa's AMCU for 591 million rand ($60 million) in damages it said resulted from ongoing strike action by union members.

Source : smh.com.au