LONDON: Gold rose for a fourth day on Wednesday as concerns over escalating tensions in Syria, US sanctions on Russia and the US-China trade stand-off weighed on stock markets and helped to knock the dollar index to a two-week low.

The metal reached its strongest in two weeks as appetite for nominally lower-risk assets sharpened. Palladium, which has also benefited from fears that sanctions on Russia could hurt supply, rose further after climbing nearly 6 per cent in the past two days. Spot gold was up 0.8pc at $1,349.75 an ounce by 1155 GMT, having touched its highest in two weeks at $1,351.43. US gold futures rose 0.5pc to $1,352.90.

Among other precious metals, silver was up 0.2pc at $16.59 an ounce, while platinum gained 0.5pc to $928.50. Palladium was up 0.4pc at $955.72.

Published in Dawn, April 12th, 2018