BY ONOME AMUGE
Gold galloped to its second consecutive weekly gain, buoyed by a drop in the dollar and the U.S Treasury yields, while fears of aggressive policy tightening by the Federal Reserve slightly subsided.
Spot gold climbed 0.3 percent to $1,856.25 per ounce, gaining 0.5 percent for the week, while US gold futures added 0.4 percent to $1,854.90 per ounce.
On the other hand, benchmark 10-year note yields tumbled, after briefly rising on strong spending data, while the dollar headed to a second consecutive bearish week.
“Gold has recaptured $1,850 this week [last week] as the dollar has continued to give back some of the huge gains from the last couple of months,” Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at OANDA, said in a note to Business A.M.
He further noted that the yellow metal had consolidated between $1,840 and $1,870 during the week, stressing that further gains could be on the cards unless the dollar finds form once more and yields start rising again.
“Economic gloom has aided the recent moves and there’s little reason to expect that will change,” he added.
Rupert Rowling, market analyst at Kinesis Money, opined that the yellow metal looks now to have found its true level and is likely to oscillate around the $1,840-$1,860 an ounce range until there is a fresh catalyst.
Other precious metals also enjoyed a bullish ride at the close of the week’s trading as spot silver climbed 0.7 percent to $22.14 per ounce, gaining 1.7 percent for the week.
Palladium was up 2.1 percent to $2,055.48 per ounce, standing 4.7 percent for the week, its highest since early April.
On the other hand, platinum succumbed to bearish forces as it lost 0.1 percent to close at $949.19 per ounce.
