LONDON: Gold held near its highest in a month on Monday in holiday-thinned trade, with a softer dollar and a retreat in stock markets helping the metal cling on to the previous session’s gains.

Gold hit its highest since May 1 on Friday at $1,269.50 an ounce, as nervousness over US President Donald Trump’s negotiations with other world leaders at the G7 summit prompted investors to buy bullion as an alternative to nominally higher-risk assets such as shares.

Spot gold was at $1,266.30 an ounce at 1340 GMT, little changed from $1,266.66 late on Friday. US gold futures for June delivery down 0.2 per cent at $1,265.20.

A 0.1pc retreat in the dollar index underpinned prices, but moves were muted, with traders in the United States, London and China all out for national holidays.

In other precious metals, silver was up 0.2pc at $17.38 an ounce, having touched a one-month high of $17.41. Platinum was 0.3pc lower at $953 while palladium was up 1.1pc at $799, after hitting a near two-week peak of $800.90 early in the session.

Published in Dawn, May 30th, 2017