LONDON: Gold was set for its biggest weekly gain in two months on Friday as a surging euro pushed the dollar to its weakest since June 2016, making bullion cheaper for holders of other currencies.

Bond yields also fell after European Central Bank (ECB) President Mario Draghi said on Thursday the ECB was in no rush to scale back its asset purchase programme. Lower yields help gold prices by reducing the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding bullion.

Spot gold was up 0.6 per cent at $1,251.61 an ounce at 1329 GMT, after earlier touching $1,252.07, the highest since June 29. It was on track for a weekly gain of 1.8pc.

Published in Dawn, July 22nd, 2017