LONDON: Gold prices were mostly flat on Monday as the dollar clawed back some recent losses and stocks rose, but US inflation fears kept buyers in the metal. Spot gold was flat at $1,346.92 an ounce at 1330 GMT. The metal rose 2.4 per cent last week in its biggest weekly gain in more than five months.

US gold slipped 0.5pc to $1,349 per ounce.

“Gold is doing relatively well in a risk-on environment. The safe-haven appeal (in gold) is a bit in question but it has a lot to do with movements in the dollar which has recovered somewhat,” said ABN AMRO commodity strategist Georgette Boele.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies, was up 0.2pc after shedding 1.4pc last week. Investors piled into gold last week on concerns that US inflation could heat up.

Hedge funds and money managers cut their net long positions in COMEX gold in the week to Feb 13, US Commodity Futures Trading Commission data showed on Friday. Trading is expected to be slower than usual this week due Lunar New Year celebrations in China. Monday is also a market holiday in the United States. SPDR Gold Trust, the world’s largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, said its holdings rose 0.39pc to 824.54 tonnes on Friday.

Among other precious metals, silver was steady at $16.66 an ounce after falling 1.2pc in the previous session. Platinum was up 0.9pc at $1,011.80 an ounce, after earlier touching its highest in over three weeks at $1,013.50. Palladium fell 0.6pc to $1,011.38 an ounce after touching its highest in about two weeks.

Published in Dawn, February 20th, 2018