LONDON: Gold held above the psychological $1,300 mark on Monday, supported by ongoing tensions over Iran and North Korea and recent weak US economic data. Palladium made another break above $1,000 an ounce to the highest levels since 2001 on the back of strong Chinese auto sales.

Spot gold was unchanged at $1,304.50 an ounce at 1355 GMT, while US gold futures for December delivery added 0.2pc to $1,306.80 per ounce. Spot gold has been rebounding since touching a two-month low of $1,260.16 on Oct 6, lifted by worries about North Korea and a weak dollar.

Palladium jumped to its highest since February 2001 at $1,010.50 an ounce, before paring gains to $1,000.90, up 1.3pc. Some investors had been wary when the metal, mostly used for auto catalysts to clean pollution from exhaust fumes, broke above $1,000 on Sept 6, due to concern about weak global auto sales. But those worries seem to have been swept aside after the world’s biggest auto market China last week reported sales growth of 5.7pc in September.

Silver rose 0.2pc to $17.39 an ounce after hitting $17.46, its highest since mid-September, while platinum eased 0.2pc to $942.05 an ounce.

Published in Dawn, October 17th, 2017