Gold prices held steady on Monday after marking their best quarter in a year, supported by uninspiring economic data from the United States and dovish remarks from a Federal Reserve official on Friday. 

FUNDAMENTALS 

* Spot gold was mostly unchanged at $1,248.50 per ounce at 0101 GMT, while U.S. gold futures were also flat at $1,251. 

* Spot gold notched a quarterly gain of about 8.4 percent on Friday, marking its best quarter in a year. 

* U.S. consumer spending barely rose in February amid delays in the payment of income tax refunds, but the biggest annual increase in inflation in nearly five years supported expectations of further interest rate hikes this year. 

* The Fed could pause interest rate hikes when it begins shedding its bond holdings, a move that would have little effect on financial markets, St. Louis Fed President James Bullard said on Friday.

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