• Gold edged down on Friday after falling more than one percent in the previous session, and was on track for its first weekly decline since late January on expectations of a U.S. rate hike in March.
• Spot gold dropped 0.2 percent to $1,232.81 per ounce at 0309 GMT. The metal had its worst session since Dec. 15 on Thursday, when it fell 1.1 percent to touch a more than one-week low at $1,230.58.
• ABN Amro on Thursday raised average 2017 and 2018 gold price forecasts to $1,248 and $1,350 per ounce
• Commerzbank revised its first half 2017 gold price forecast upwards to $1,250 per ounce while confirming its year-end forecast at $1,300 per ounce.
• INTL FCStone looks for gold to remain under pressure in the near term, but with limited downside even though Fed Chair Janet Yellen is expected to reinforce market expectations that a U.S. rate hike may occur in the foreseeable future
• Spot silver held firm at $17.78, after falling 3.5 percent to hit a 3-week low of $17.64 on Thursday. The metal had its worst one-day fall since Dec 15. It is on track to end the week down 3 percent, its worst since December.
Reference: Reuters, Scrap Register
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