Gold prices traded in a narrow range on Monday as investors looked to a key U.S. jobs data to firm their bets on the size of the Federal Reserve's interest rate cut expected this month.

Spot gold eased 0.1% at $2,499.47 per ounce, as of 0143 GMT. U.S. gold futures inched up 0.2% to $2,531.90.

The Fed is expected to kick off a rate-cutting cycle at its policy meeting on Sept. 17-18. Traders currently see a 69% chance of a 25 basis points cut and a 31% chance of a 50 bps cut, according to the CME FedWatch tool.

"The lead-up to the U.S. non-farm payrolls may put gold prices in their near-term range to start the week. Investors look towards a series of economic data to help resolve the debate between a 25 bp and a 50 bp cut for the upcoming Fed meeting," said IG market strategist Yeap Jun Rong.

Major data due this week are the ISM surveys, JOLTS job openings, ADP employment and the non-farm payrolls report. For the payrolls report, due Friday, a Reuters poll predicts 165,000 headline jobs created in August and a dip in the unemployment rate to 4.2%.

Spot gold fell 1% in the previous session after data showed that U.S. consumer spending increased solidly in July, arguing against a half-percentage-point rate cut.

"Nevertheless, the recent move to an all-time high continues to be well-defended for gold prices," added Yeap.

Non-yielding bullion tends to thrive in a low-interest-rate environment.

Meanwhile, COMEX gold speculators raised their net long positions by 69 contracts to 236,818 in the week ended Aug. 27, data showed on Friday.

Spot silver rose 0.6% to $28.66 per ounce, platinum nearly steady at $926.50 and palladium was up 0.1% to $966.25. (Reporting by Ashitha Shivaprasad in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi Aich and Varun H K)