LONDON: Gold edged down on Thursday and held on track for its biggest weekly loss of 2018 as the dollar was boosted by minutes from the last US Federal Reserve meeting that showed policymakers backed further rises in interest rates.

Spot gold was 0.1 per cent lower at $1,322.91 an ounce by 1241GMT, down 1.8pc so far this week.

The yellow metal was in the red for a fifth straight session and earlier touched is lowest since Feb 14 at $1,320.61.

US gold futures were down 0.5pc at $1,324.90 per ounce. Gold is highly exposed to interest rates, particularly in the United States, as rate rises lift the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding assets and boost the dollar, in which gold is priced.

“Gold is precariously holding a trend-line from December 2017 lows at present, so we expect some support around here, especially with China back,” said MKS senior precious metals trader Alex Thorndike.

Silver was down 0.3pc at $16.44 an ounce, while palladium was up 0.7pc at $1,027 an ounce and platinum was flat at $987.20.

Published in Dawn, February 23rd, 2018