Gold returned to levels seen before the US presidential election as equities retreated and the US dollar vacillated ahead of a major speech next week by US President Donald Trump.
The metal headed for a fourth straight weekly gain, the longest run since last month, shaking off most of the losses incurred following the surprise election result, as markets continue to unwind Trump trade.
A pause in the stocks rally on Friday has buoyed demand for the haven.
Bullion has risen 9.6 percent this year as political uncertainty over Trump’s unorthodoxy, European elections and Brexit ruffle confidence.
The US president is to deliver his first speech to US Congress next week, after US Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin on Thursday said the impact of fiscal stimulus this year on the economy might be limited.
The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fluctuated, rising as much as 0.1 percent and falling as much as 0.2 percent.
“We’ve seen uncertainty of policy increased,” Austin, Texas-based Prestige Economics LLC president Jason Schenker said in a telephone interview, adding that gold “could go a little bit higher in the immediate term.”
Gold for immediate delivery climbed 0.6 percent to US$1,257.31 per ounce at 2:19pm in New York on Friday, at the lower end of the US$1,250 to US$1,350 range frequented between the British referendum to leave the EU in June and the US vote in November last year.
The metal traded just below its 200-day moving average of US$1262.12, a point which some traders might see as a bullish signal.
Measured in euros, gold posted the highest close since Sept. 23 last year.
Gold futures for April delivery rose 0.6 percent to settle at US$1,258.30 per ounce at 1:40pm on the Comex in New York on Friday. Prices touched US$1,261.20, the highest intraday level since Nov. 11.
“The market is losing a bit of patience in waiting for Trump to deliver on his stimulus promises,” Copenhagen-based Danske Bank A/S senior analyst Jens Pedersen said by telephone. “Meanwhile, worries over the elections in France and elsewhere in Europe are also supportive of prices.”
Silver for immediate delivery climbed 0.9 percent, while spot platinum was up 1.6 percent at US$1,025.50 per ounce, heading for the highest close since Sept. 30 last year.
Spot palladium fell 0.5 percent to US$770.70 per ounce.
Iron ore tumbled 5 percent and is poised for a weekly loss. After a surprise rally last year, the commodity roared into this year on optimism that Chinese demand would prove robust.
This week has seen a series of warnings the gains might be overextended.
Copper, aluminum and zinc were little changed, with declines amounting to at least 0.7 percent for the week.
Oil slipped 0.2 percent to US$54.32, after jumping 1.6 percent in the previous session, as government data showed a smaller-than-expected increase in crude inventories.
Crude is trading near the highest level since July 2015.
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