Gold Firms Up to $1,298.21/Ounce, Ahead of G7 Talks

Window display of jewelry shop

Gold edged up on Friday, June 8, as a rise in risk aversion ahead of G7 talks this weekend lent support, but the metal remained hemmed within its narrowest weekly range in more than a decade as a recovery in the dollar kept a lid on gains.

Expectations that the U.S. Federal Reserve will announce another rate increase next week are also weighing on gold.

Higher rates lift the opportunity cost of investing in non-yielding assets such as bullion, Reuters reports.

Spot gold was up 0.1 percent at $1,298.21 an ounce at 1355 GMT, while U.S. gold futures for August delivery were down 40 cents at $1,302.60 an ounce.

Gold has moved little since last Friday’s close, with the spread between its highs and lows the narrowest of any week since August 2007 at just $13.70 an ounce.

“There are offsetting factors – now you have some upside to the dollar, but at the same time you have a bit of noise coming up on the trade side with the G7 upcoming,” ABN Amro analyst Georgette Boele said.

Next week’s Fed meeting, and a meeting of the European Central Bank, are also in focus, she added. “It’ll be important what the direction from the Fed is,” she said. “We are still

Silver was up 0.6 percent at $16.76 an ounce, after hitting its highest in more than six weeks on Thursday. It was on track for a 2.1 percent rise for the week, its biggest in seven weeks, in line with gains in industrial metal copper.

Palladium was flat at $1,011.75 an ounce, while platinum was 0.8 percent higher at $903.80 an ounce.