Gold bucks US tariff trend

bengaluru — Gold prices rose slightly on Friday as the dollar eased on fears of an imminent trade war following US President Donald Trump’s decision to impose steep tariffs on imported steel and aluminium.

Spot gold had risen by 0.1 per cent to $1,317.29 an ounce by 0757GMT, but was on track for a second straight weekly drop after having declined 0.9 per cent so far.

Prices fell to the lowest since January 2, at $1,302.61, in the previous session under pressure from expectations of more interest rate hikes in the United States than expected this year.

US gold futures were up one per cent at $1,318.50 per ounce on Friday.

“The US imposed trade tariffs and those that come back our way in the form of retaliation should be net negative for the dollar and could conceivably provide gold with some support,” INTL FCStone analyst Edward Meir said in a note.

The dollar index was down 0.1 per cent at 90.233. It shed 0.4 per cent overnight, pulling back from a six-week high of 90.932 touched early on Thursday, after Trump’s decision.

The precious metals market would continue looking out for interest rates along with the dollar’s movement, said Dick Poon, general manager at Heraeus Metals Hong Kong.

Silver was down 0.3 per cent at $16.41 an ounce after touching its lowest in over two months at $16.16 in the previous session.

Platinum was 0.3 per cent lower at $963.40 per ounce after falling to its lowest since January 4 at $950.50 on Thursday.

Palladium fell 0.5 per cent to $984.30. —