LONDON: Gold prices dipped on Friday, weighed down by a firmer dollar, but some traders said signs pointed to a rebound.

Spot gold was down 0.1 per cent at $1,288.41 per ounce at 1400 GMT, after hitting its lowest since Dec 27 in the previous session at $1,285.41. The metal was heading for its biggest weekly decline since early December. US gold futures for June delivery fell 0.2pc to $1,287.50 per ounce.

“There are many drivers that are pointing to an upside in the precious metals, so we’re buying into this weakness,” said Gianclaudio Torlizzi, partner at consultancy T-Commodity in Milan. The sentiment index in gold was indicating it was strongly oversold while the dollar was heavily overbought, while US inflation measures were rising, he added.

Silver fell 0.2pc to $16.39 an ounce and was due to shed slightly more than 1pc for the week. Platinum dropped 0.6pc to $883.60 per ounce after hitting a five-month low at $879 on Thursday. Platinum was set to fall around 4pc on the week, the biggest weekly loss since early December. Palladium declined 0.3pc to $977.47 and was heading for a 2pc weekly loss.

Published in Dawn, May 19th, 2018