By Gina Lee

Investing.com – Gold was up on Monday morning in Asia, climbing to a three-month high as inventors digested disappointing economic data from China and the U.S.

Gold futures were up 0.75% to $1,851.95 by 12:02 PM ET (4:02 AM GMT), hitting their highest level since Feb. 10 in early Asian trade.

The dollar, which usually moves inversely to gold, inched up on Monday and the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury yield came down further from a more than one-month high hit during the previous week.

Chinese data released earlier in the day said that industrial production growth slowed down to 9.8% year-on-year in April.

In the U.S., data released on Friday said that retail sales did not grow month-on-month in April as the bounce from stimulus checks distributed earlier in the year faded. However, an acceleration could be forthcoming in the coming months as savings surge to record levels and the economy continues to re-open.

The weak U.S. data did help to calm rising worries about runaway inflation and bets that the U.S. Federal Reserve would hike interest rates sooner than expected.

Dallas Fed President Robert Kaplan on Friday warned of a worrisome rise in U.S. inflation expectations, as imbalances between supply and demand for labor and goods put upward pressure on prices. However, Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester said that the Fed’s policy is currently in a good place.

Other officials from the central bank, including Fed Vice Chair Richard Clarida and Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic, will also speak later in the week.

Investors now await the minutes from the U.S. Federal Reserve’s latest meeting, due on Wednesday, with the Reserve Bank of Australia publishing its own minutes the day before.

In other precious metals, palladium edged up 0.2% to $2,898.24, while silver inched down 0.1% and platinum edged down 0.2%.

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