Singapore: Gold traded firmly above $1,300 an ounce on Friday and looked poised for a second-straight weekly gain as sluggish global economic data and geopolitical tensions boosted the metal's safe-haven appeal.
Fundamentals
Spot gold was steady at $1,311.60 an ounce, after closing little changed in the previous session. The metal has gained 0.2 per cent this week. US gold slipped about $2 to $1,313.30, also on track for a second weekly gain.
Bullion was helped by data on Thursday that showed the number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits rose more than expected last week. While the increase did little to change views that the labour market was strengthening, investors believe the sluggishness will restrain the US Federal Reserve from tightening monetary policy soon.
Euro zone economic growth ground to a halt in the second quarter as Germany's economy shrank and France's stagnated, data showed on Thursday, further strengthening gold's appeal. Tensions between the West and Russia over Ukraine, and in the Middle East also supported gold - seen as an alternative investment to riskier assets such as equities.
Hedge fund Paulson & Co maintained its stake in the world's biggest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, SPDR Gold Trust, in the second quarter, while Soros Fund Management LLC sharply boosted his investment in gold mining stocks. An Indian gold-exporting company has been raided over suspicions it was trying to smuggle gold out of a special economic zone, in a sign of a crackdown on the practice in the world's second-biggest bullion consumer.
Among other precious metals, silver was headed for its fifth consecutive weekly loss. The silver market enters a new electronic era in benchmarking on Friday after a regulatory drive for more transparency in price setting brought the 117-year-old silver 'fix' to an end.
