LONDON: Gold rose to a fresh 15-month peak on Monday in holiday-thinned trade as an early retreat in the dollar drove prices higher, though it later eased back below $1,300 an ounce as the US currency pared losses.

Many Asian markets and London were closed for national holidays, dampening momentum in the precious metal, which posted its biggest weekly rally since early February last week, up more than 5 per cent.

Spot gold peaked at $1,303.60 an ounce, its highest since January last year, before easing to $1,295.40 by 1330 GMT, up 0.1pc. US gold futures for June delivery were up $7.10 an ounce at $1,297.60.

Silver was down 0.3pc at $17.78 an ounce, having also hit its highest since January last year at $18.01. Platinum was up 0.4pc at $1,077.37 an ounce, while palladium was up 0.4pc at $627.02 an ounce.

Published in Dawn, May 3rd , 2016