Gold headed for another weekly gain on Friday, with prices rising for the third day amid ongoing turmoil in the Middle East and fresh woes at a Portugese bank.
As of 04:05 a.m. ET, Spot Gold was down 0.11% around $1,335.83 an ounce. The Metal is likelly to extend a sxith straight weekly gain, after hitting a fresh thre month high of $1,344.91 on Thursday.
Experts believe the increasing bid for safe haven was boosted by the escalating tension between the Israelis and Palestinians.
Yesterday, the bullion sentiment got a strong boost, as the European stock markets plunged and the dollar weakened following the Release of the Federal Reserve minutes.
The rally in gold prices continued to draw support from concerns about the health of Banco Espirito Santo (LISBON:BES), Portugals largest listed bank by assets, and its biggest shareholder Espirito Santo Financial Group.
Among other precious metals:
- Spot Silver traded flat at $21.41 an ounce
- Spot Platinum fell 0.23% to $1,509.75 an ounce
- Spot Palladium fell 0.38% to $870.10 an ounce
Palladium is still holding near the the highest in more than 13 years, with platinum prices peaking at the highest since February 2001, boosted by rebound in demand for the autocatalysts metal from the US and Chinese carmakers.
The conflict involving Russia/Ukraine and strikes in South Africa combined to risk a supply disruption are keeping the precious metals markets jittery too.