Gold is steady as dollar slips from 11-month high

Bengaluru — Gold prices held steady on Friday, after hitting a six-month trough in the previous session, as the dollar pulled back from a 11-month peak on profit-booking.

Spot gold was little changed at $1,267.38/oz, as of 3.04am GMT. In the previous session, the bullion touched $1,260.84, its lowest since December 19 2017. However, the metal was headed for a 0.9% decline for the week.

A weaker greenback makes dollar-denominated gold cheaper for holders of other currencies.

US gold futures for August delivery were 0.1% lower at $1,269.10/oz.

Gold had rebounded a little bit from the lower side due to the weakness in the dollar, said Ronald Leung, chief dealer at Lee Cheong Gold Dealers in Hong Kong.

The dollar fell from an 11-month peak against a basket of major currencies as investors took profits, while sterling rebounded from a seven-month low after a slightly hawkish tilt from the Bank of England (BoE) surprised the market.

The trade war was affecting gold for the time being. Unless the dollar weakens, do not expect gold to move too high, Leung said.

Asian shares were under pressure on Friday on signs that US trade battles with China and many other countries are starting to chip away at corporate profits, with oil prices choppy ahead of major producers’ meeting to discuss raising the output.

An increasingly shrill exchange of words between the US and China that is threatening to trigger a global trade war has claimed another victim — Germany’s car sector.

Spot gold still targeted $1,258/oz, as suggested by its wave pattern and a projection analysis, said Reuters technicals analyst Wang Tao.

Meanwhile, holdings of SPDR Gold Trust, the world’s largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, dropped 0.50% to 824.63 tonnes on Thursday.

In other precious metals, silver was up 0.1% at $16.32/oz. It fell to its lowest since May 2 at $16.16 in the previous session, and was on course for a 1.4% decline this week.

Palladium recovered from early losses to rise 0.3% to $953.50/oz. Early in the day, it slipped to a seven-week low of $947.15/oz. Platinum slipped 0.6% to $856.15/oz. Palladium and platinum were poised to mark a decline of over 3% this week.

Reuters