Spot gold touched its highest since June 15 at $
U.S. gold futures were up about 0.5 percent at $1,290.20 per ounce.
•“The weaker dollar lent some support for gold. People are more interested in gold as the stock markets are under pressure and are looking at gold as a safe haven,” said Peter Fung, head of dealing at Wing Fung Precious Metals in Hong Kong.
• The dollar index fell as much as 0.3 percent. The Japanese yen, also seen as a preferred asset during times of economic volatility, surged versus the dollar on Thursday.
• Asian markets recouped losses on Thursday, while U.S. stock futures declined after a rare revenue warning from index heavy-weight Apple Inc added to worries about slowing global growth.
• Adding to investor concerns, a meeting between U.S. congressional leaders and President Donald Trump on Wednesday saw no sign of an agreement to end a partial government shutdown, now in its 12th day.
• Meanwhile, businesses in Britain’s dominant services sector reported the slowest sales growth in two years during the final three months of 2018, another sign of a dampening economic growth ahead of Brexit.
• Markets will also be looking for cues about interest rate hikes from a joint discussion between Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell and former Fed chairs Janet Yellen and Ben Bernanke on Friday.
• “$1,280 is a good support level. I expect gold to trade on the upside, hit $1,300 very soon and go on to $1,350 or maybe even $1,400 this year,” Fung said.
• Among other precious metals, palladium gained 0.7 percent to $1,263.60 per ounce.
Silver was up 0.4 percent at $15.57 an ounce, while platinum was down 0.1 percent at $793.40 per ounce.
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