BENGALURU: Gold held steady on Wednesday after posting its best daily gain in two weeks in the previous session, with investors drawn to bullion as global equities slipped on economic growth fears and the US-China trade dispute.

Spot gold was little changed at $1,285.10 an ounce by 1253GMT, while US gold futures were up 0.1 per cent at $1,284.70.

“Any weakness in stocks is likely to attract a bid because the market is looking towards gold as a safe haven at this stage,” said Saxo Bank analyst Ole Hansen.

Also supporting gold was a prolonged partial US government shutdown and expectations that the Federal Reserve would pause increases to interest rates, analysts said.

Gold tends to gain on expectations of lower interest rates, which reduce the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding bullion.

“If sound bites from the gathering (World Economic Forum in Davos) sour the markets’ mood, another drop in bond yields may prove to be supportive for gold prices, although again, the move might be tempered by haven-bound flows into the US dollar,” said Ilya Spivak, senior currency strategist at DailyFx.

Capping gold’s gains was a buoyant dollar holding near three-week highs.

“A lot of new buyers have emerged between $1,275 and $1,300. Failure to break above $1,300 sooner or later will increase the risk of some disappointment and some profit-taking,” Saxo Bank’s Hansen added.

Meanwhile, palladium, which hit a record high of $1,434.50 an ounce last week on low inventories and rising demand, was down for a fourth session, shedding 0.2pc to $1,342.84.

Silver and platinum were up 0.3pc at $15.38 and $790.45 respectively. ­

Published in Dawn, January 24th, 2019