Gold prices hold up despite US GDP data

Gold rose on Friday, notching up to its second week of gains after shrugging off slightly better-than-expected US third-quarter GDP data amid firm demand from Asia.
Spot gold was up 0.3 percent to $1,271.90 an ounce at 1445 GMT and is up 0.5 percent this week.
US gold futures slipped 0.2 percent to $1,267.10.
Demand for bullion in India is expected to pick up during the Dhanteras and Diwali festivals, when gold is traditionally given as a gift.
In other precious metals, silver gained 0.8 percent to $17.83 an ounce and platinum rose 1.4 percent to $978.
Silver was on track for its biggest weekly gain in five, while platinum was heading toward its best week in three months.
A Reuters poll on Friday showed platinum prices are expected to rise next year to their highest since 2014 on an average basis, but will remain at a discount to gold.
Palladium rose 1 percent to $616, having earlier touched a 16-week low of $608.47.
The US economy grew by 2.9 percent in the third quarter, outpacing analysts’ consensus forecast of 2.5 percent, strengthening the case for an interest rate increase and making non-yielding assets such as gold less attractive while boosting the dollar and US treasuries.
The reading of the world’s biggest economy dragged gold to a session low of $1,262.04 but the price rebounded shortly after.
“The GDP data was not overwhelmingly strong, the rise was marginal and the contribution to underlying strength wasn’t very strong,” said Carsten Fritsch, commodity analyst at Commerzbank. “The fact that we have strong physical demand probably puts a floor to the price.”

Source: Arab News