Gold futures edged higher Friday, finding apparent haven-related demand as global equities saw renewed pressure.
December gold futures
GCZ8, +0.28%
rose $3.70, or 0.3%, to $1.236.10 an ounce and were on track for a 0.6% weekly rise. For the month, gold is up 3.3%. December silver
SIZ8, +0.10%
was up 0.5 cent at to $14.635 an ounce.
“Gold’s impressive performance of late, coming amid [U.S. dollar] strength, suggests that gold finally is behaving like a safe-haven asset,” said Robin Bhar, analyst at Société Générale, in a note.
A selloff in global equities amid rising geopolitical and economic uncertainty have pushed gold back above $1,200 an ounce, with buying and short covering driven by increased risk aversion, while investor flows into bullion, often considered a haven and store of value during times of stress, also continued to increase, as shown by inflows into physically backed exchange traded products, Bhar said.
Gold held its ground Thursday as equity markets bounced back partially from the previous session’s plunge. U.S. stock-index futures pointed to a sharply lower start for Wall Street on Friday.
Gold slightly trimmed its gain after data showed third-quarter gross domestic product grew at a 3.5% annualized pace. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch produced a consensus forecast for 3.4% annualized growth, slowing from a 4.2% pace in the second quarter.
Read: The party’s far from over for the economy, as GDP will show
The popular SPDR Gold Shares ETF
GLD, -0.22%
was up 0.3% in premarket trade.
Meanwhile, copper futures were under pressure, with the December contract
HGZ8, -1.13%
off 1.2% to $2.7215 an ounce.
Read: Copper weakness hints at economic woes ahead
January platinum
PLF9, -0.34%
was off 0.3% to $829.70 an ounce, while December
PAZ8, -1.03%
was off 1% to $1,076.30 an ounce.
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Source : MTV
