Spot gold was little changed at $2,378.30 an ounce at 9:10 a.m. ET (1:10 p.m. GMT), after hitting $2,417.59 earlier in the session. Prices rose more than 1% this week.
U.S. gold futures fell 0.2% to $2,393.50.
Explosions rang out in an Iranian town on Friday morning in what sources described as an Israeli attack, but Tehran played down the incident and said it had no plans for retaliation.
“The escalation and de-escalation situation in the Middle East has gripped markets. If the situation unravels, then gold will retreat or consolidate as safe-haven buying dries up,” said David Meger , director of metals. trading at High Ridge Futures.
“However, longer term, gold’s bullish trend will continue as the Federal Reserve may not cut rates as quickly as the market expects.” Fed officials agree that there is no urgency to cut interest rates. The market currently estimates a 65% chance of a rate cut in September. High interest rates reduce the attractiveness of holding gold without yield.
Gold, which has posted strong gains this year, will rise further due to a robust Chinese demand outlook and macroeconomic uncertainties, state-backed Chinese research firm Antaike said.
Spot silver rose 0.3% to $28.29.
Meanwhile, HSBC lowered its 2024 average price forecast for platinum to $1,055 an ounce from $1,105 and for palladium to $1,095 from $1,138.
“A feature of the palladium and platinum markets has been low prices in the face of a significant deficit,” he adds.
Spot platinum fell 0.9% to $926.63 and palladium slipped 1.9% to $1,005.72. Both metals were heading for weekly declines.
Spot gold was little changed at $2,378.30 an ounce at 9:10 a.m. ET (1:10 p.m. GMT), after hitting $2,417.59 earlier in the session. Prices rose more than 1% this week.
U.S. gold futures fell 0.2% to $2,393.50.
Explosions rang out in an Iranian town on Friday morning in what sources described as an Israeli attack, but Tehran played down the incident and said it had no plans for retaliation.
“The escalation and de-escalation situation in the Middle East has gripped markets. If the situation unravels, then gold will retreat or consolidate as safe-haven buying dries up,” said David Meger , director of metals. trading at High Ridge Futures.
“However, longer term, gold’s bullish trend will continue as the Federal Reserve may not cut rates as quickly as the market expects.” Fed officials agree that there is no urgency to cut interest rates. The market currently estimates a 65% chance of a rate cut in September. High interest rates reduce the attractiveness of holding gold without yield.
Gold, which has posted strong gains this year, will rise further due to a robust Chinese demand outlook and macroeconomic uncertainties, state-backed Chinese research firm Antaike said.
Spot silver rose 0.3% to $28.29.
Meanwhile, HSBC lowered its 2024 average price forecast for platinum to $1,055 an ounce from $1,105 and for palladium to $1,095 from $1,138.
“A feature of the palladium and platinum markets has been low prices in the face of a significant deficit,” he adds.
Spot platinum fell 0.9% to $926.63 and palladium slipped 1.9% to $1,005.72. Both metals were heading for weekly declines.