Gold prices scaled historic heights above US$1,150 per ounce this week, buoyed by the weak greenback and recent central bank purchases of the precious metal, analysts said.
Traders said the dollar’s overall weak tone was due to the prospect of US interest rates remaining close to zero for some time yet.
PRECIOUS METALS: Gold hit an all-time peak at US$1,152.85 an ounce on Wednesday, extending this year’s record-breaking run.
“The price of gold moved further north as the dollar’s decline continued,” analyst Marius Paun at ODL Markets said. “Whilst the US Federal Reserve continues to reiterate that interest rates will remain low, investors appear willing to buy in the precious metal.”
“Like all risk assets, [gold] is benefiting from the sliding dollar, but it is also a safe haven for investors who are concerned about the safety of other currencies,” David Morrison at spread-betting firm GFT said.
By late on Friday on the London Bullion Market, gold rose to US$1,140 an ounce from US$1,104 a week earlier.
Silver gained to US$18.18 an ounce from US$17.32.
On the London Platinum and Palladium Market, platinum advanced to US$1,435 an ounce at the late fixing on Friday from US$1,359 the previous week.
Palladium climbed to US$360 an ounce from US$354.
OIL: Oil prices rose in a week of volatile trade. Analysts on Friday said crude futures were likely to stay under US$80 because of high oil inventories in the US, the world’s biggest energy-consuming nation, analysts said.
“Relatively swollen US stockpiles [are] still weighing,” VTB Capital commodities analyst Andrey Kryuchenkov in London said.
By Friday on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX), light sweet crude for delivery in December firmed to US$76.71 from US$76.41 a week earlier.
On London’s InterContinental Exchange (ICE), Brent North Sea crude for January delivery advanced to US$77.03, compared with US$75.65 for the December contract last week.
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