BENGALURU: Gold climbed to its highest in nearly a month on Monday as the dollar weakened after the United States and China agreed a temporary truce in their trade war.

Spot gold rose 0.6 per cent to $1,228.67 an ounce by 1153 GMT, having touched its highest level since Nov 7 at $1,232.22.

US gold futures gained 0.7pc to $1,234.

“The appeal of US dollar as a safe haven is softening and that leads to a rising gold price,” said Julius Baer analyst Carsten Menke.

“This is very much as expected under the assumption that there was some sort of a positive development at the G20 meeting in terms of the trade tensions between the US and China.”

“Bullion is likely to get a further boost if prices manage to stand firmly above $1,230 and particularly if they surpass $1,235,” ActivTrades’ chief analyst Carlo Alberto De Casa wrote in a note.

Among other precious metals, palladium gained 0.5pc to $1,183.99 an ounce after crossing the $1,200 mark for the first time on Friday. Spot silver climbed 1.5pc to $14.38 and platinum rose 1.2pc to $807.40.

Published in Dawn, December 4th, 2018