LONDON: Gold eased under pressure from the dollar on Tuesday, with investors booking profits after rising tensions between North Korea and the United States pushed the metal to a one-week high.

Spot gold was down 0.7 per cent to $1,300.50 per ounce at 1345 GMT, after earlier marking its highest since Sept 20 at $1,313.54. It gained more than 1pc the previous session. US gold futures fell 0.6pc to $1,303 per ounce.

The precious metal was hit by profit taking, but relations between North Korea and the United States continued to deteriorate, said Commerzbank commodity analyst Carsten Fritsch. “Geopo­litics haven’t come off the table.

They are still front and centre but after a rally you tend to get a tiny bit of a pullback,” said ETF Securities commodity strategist Nitesh Shah.

North Korea appears to have boosted defences on its east coast, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported, after the North said US President Donald Trump had declared war and that it would shoot down US bombers flying near the peninsula.

Silver was on track for its biggest intraday fall in over a week.

The metal was down 1.5pc to $16.95 per ounce. In the previous session, prices rose more than 1pc. Platinum fell 1.3pc to $925.75 per ounce, after registering its biggest one-day percentage gain since Sept 7 in the previous session. Palladium steadied near $911.

Published in Dawn, September 27th, 2017