Gold hits highest in four months
LONDON: Gold hit its highest level since mid-October on Monday, extending its biggest weekly rise since July 2013 as sliding stock markets and global growth uncertainty prompted investors to seek safety in hard assets.
Spot gold reached a peak of $1,182.60, its strongest since Oct 16, and was at $1,178.76 an ounce at 1326 GMT, up 0.5 per cent.
The metal climbed 5pc last week and has risen more than 10pc since the start of 2016, reversing last year’s 10.4pc loss.
US gold for April delivery was up 2.1pc at $1,182.1 an ounce.
Hedge funds and money managers boosted their bullish bet in COMEX gold to a three-month high in the week to Feb. 2, US Commodity Futures Trading Commission data showed on Friday.
Positive sentiment was also boosted by SPDR Gold Trust, the world’s largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, which said its holdings rose 0.7pc to 698.46 tonnes on Friday.
Across other metals, platinum which tracked gold higher last week, was up 0.3pc to $909.89 while palladium fell 1.3pc to $494.65 an ounce. Silver was up 0.3pc at $15.01 an ounce.
Published in Dawn, February 9th, 2016