BENGALURU: Gold held near a five-month peak on Monday as a slide in global shares pushed investors to seek shelter in bullion, while waning expectations of US interest rate hikes next year also underpinned the metal’s appeal.

Spot gold inched down 0.1 per cent to $1,246.58 per ounce, as of 1238GMT, having touched $1,250.55, a peak since July 11, earlier in the session. US gold futures were steady at $1,252.20 per ounce.

Holdings in SPDR Gold Trust, the world’s largest gold-backed ETF, rose 0.20pc to 759.73 tonnes on Friday.

Among other precious metals, spot silver slipped 0.9pc to $14.49 per ounce, while palladium was up 0.1pc at $1,225.31.

Platinum edged 0.3pc lower to $787.70 per ounce. Prices had slipped to their lowest since Sept 12 at $779 in the previous session.

Published in Dawn, December 11th, 2018