LONDON: Gold steadied above a two-month low on Friday after a five-day losing streak and was headed for its biggest weekly loss in five, hurt by strong US economic data and speculation the Federal Reserve could raise interest rates sooner than expected.

Spot gold was up 0.1pc at $1,278.35 an ounce by 1338 GMT, not far from a two-month low of $1,273.06 hit on Thursday.

The metal is down almost 2pc for the week, the biggest drop since the week ended July 18.

US gold futures gained 0.3pc to $1,278.90.

Gold failed to gain support from escalating tensions over Ukraine that halted an earlier rise in European stocks.

Published in Dawn, August 23rd, 2014