LONDON: Gold prices edged up from six-month lows on Friday as the dollar slipped, but the modest nature of the recovery suggested speculators might still be poised to punish the metal further.

Spot gold was up 0.2 per cent at $1,268.84 an ounce, by 1345 GMT. In the prior session, bullion touched $1,260.84, its lowest since Dec 19, 2017. US gold futures for August delivery added 0.1pc to $1,271.10 per ounce.

“If the dollar is weaker and gold is not reacting much, that’s usually a bad sign, that means that you’ll probably get more downside,” Georgette Boele, commodity strategist at ABN AMRO in Amsterdam, said.

Gold tumbled last Friday after repeatedly failing to surmount the $1,300 level as speculators rushed to liquidate long positions and others put on bearish positions. The dollar pulled back from an 11-month peak against a basket of major currencies on Friday, as the euro strengthened after a survey showed euro zone private business growth recovered in June.

Silver gained 0.4pc to $16.37 an ounce after falling to its lowest since May 2 at $16.16 in the previous session. Auto catalyst metals platinum and palladium rose 0.4pc to $865.24 per ounce and added 0.5pc to $955.30 per ounce respectively, but were headed for weekly declines of over 2pc. Earlier in the session, platinum touched $851.74, the weakest since February 2016, while palladium slipped to a seven-week low of $947.15 an ounce.

Published in Dawn, June 23rd, 2018