LONDON: Gold prices rose on Tuesday as the dollar sat near three-year lows, but an end to the uncertainty created by a three-day US government shutdown capped gains. Gold was mostly unaffected by the shutdown in the previous session, trading in a tight range.

Spot gold was up 0.2 per cent at $1,336.56 an ounce at 1246 GMT after touching a one-week high of $1,338.46, while US gold futures for February delivery climbed 0.3pc to $1,336 an ounce.

“Dollar is mostly weakening and that has continued to be the number one supporter of gold,” FOREX.com analyst Fawad Razaqzada said, adding the robust performance of the euro and the pound had pushed gold higher in recent weeks. The US government shutdown had impacted the dollar, but was largely ignored by gold, Razaqzada said. The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, was holding close to a three-year low hit last week.

In other precious metals, platinum was 0.7pc lower at $988.50 an ounce, down from a more than four-month high touched in the previous session. Silver was down 0.4pc at $16.95 an ounce. Palladium was 0.8pc lower at $1,089.70 an ounce.

Published in Dawn, January 24th, 2018