NEW YORK (Commodity Online): The investor community is starting to pay more attention to gold and the mood toward the metal in the U.S. is the friendliest we'd seen since the metal's sizeable pullback in late February, said Union Bank of Switzerland (UBS) in commodities briefing.

“ The interest in the metal has not been met with new positioning, which could mean that if prices rise, then buyers might return. A lot of uncertainty surrounds the timeframe,” Edel Tully, precious metals strategist at UBS.

She continued that, “UBS is cautious on gold until it can break the $1,640 an ounce level, which has been a ceiling for the metal lately. For now we'd prefer to have a small long position, preserving some caution until $1,640 breaks, upon which we'd recommend adding to length.”

“We've long held the view that the gold market is unprepared for a rally, both from a positioning point of view and from a sentiment perspective. And when the rally comes, it's likely to be fast and furious,” Tully concluded.

Comex gold futures prices are trading near steady in early U.S. dealings on Monday. The precious yellow metal is seeing some consolidation on the charts following good gains late last week that pushed prices to a six-week high on Friday.

The bulls still have some upside near-term technical momentum on their side to start the new trading week.

December gold last traded unchanged at $1,622.70 an ounce. Spot gold was last quoted down $4.80 an ounce at $1,619.25.