Gold prices inch up on buying after steep fall

Gold prices inched up on Thursday on buying after the bullion hit a one-week low and posted its biggest one-day percentage fall in nearly 9 months in the previous session.

Spot gold was up 0.2 percent at $1,327.72 per ounce at 0419 GMT, after hitting a one-week low of $1,323.20 in the previous session. Prices dropped 1.5 percent on Wednesday to mark their biggest one-day percentage decline since July 3, 2017.

U.S. gold futures for April delivery climbed 0.2 percent to $1,326.80 per ounce.

“Gold is still being seen as a safe-haven asset at the moment and we are seeing good physical buying, so that is supporting gold,” said Brian Lan, managing director at dealer GoldSilver Central in Singapore.

Concerns about the global trade war have eased “but it doesn’t mean it is over,” Lan added.

U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs on Chinese goods may not be imposed until early June, administration officials said on Wednesday, with public consultations and potential tariff revisions buying time for negotiations to forestall them.

However, gains in the yellow metal were curbed as the U.S dollar held firm, having made its biggest daily gain in more than a half year, bolstered in part by hopes of detente in East Asia.

North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un pledged his commitment to denuclearization and meet U.S. officials, China said on Wednesday after his meeting with President Xi Jinping, who promised China would uphold friendship with its isolated neighbor.

In other precious metals, spot silver gained 0.4 percent to $16.32 per ounce.

Platinum rose 0.7 percent to $938 per ounce, after hitting a near three-month low of $929.50 per ounce in the previous session.

Palladium climbed for the first time in six sessions,up 0.4 percent to $969.40 an ounce. Prices dropped to a near three-week low of $961.65 on Wednesday.

Source: Reuters

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