LONDON: Gold edged higher on Friday and was heading for a weekly gain, supported by trade concerns after the United States hiked tariffs on Chinese goods during trade talks between the two countries.

Spot gold was up 0.2 per cent at $1,286.40 per ounce at 1305 GMT, and is up about 0.6pc this week.

US gold futures were up 0.2pc at $1,287.20 an ounce.

“Tensions in the Middle East and also the trade disputes between the United States and China are supporting gold at the moment,” said Afshin Nabavi, senior vice president at MKS SA.

“But the market continues to be rangebound around $1,275 on the downside and around $1,292 on the upside. We have been having quite a bit of resistance around the $1,290 level,” he added.

Silver was up 0.1pc at $14.77 per ounce, while platinum rose 1.4pc to $855.53. Silver is on course to register a second straight week of declines, while platinum looks set for a third weekly drop in a row.

Published in Dawn, May 11th, 2019