Gold futures decline on upbeat US earnings reports

Gold futures declined on Monday as global equities markets continued to rise driven by some upbeat earnings reports from the US and a few encouraging economic data from the US and China last week. Further, sharp outflows from the world's biggest bullion-backed exchange-traded fund (ETF) and the lack of a further increase in geopolitical tension prompted selling also influenced gold price. Gold futures for June delivery settled down $5.40 at $1,288.50 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. While spot gold fell 0.4 percent at $1,288.72 an ounce.