Market News
Gold poised for weekly loss as US delays decision on Middle East involvement - REUTERS
By Sarah Qureshi and Ashitha Shivaprasad
(Reuters) - Gold prices were steady on Friday and poised for a weekly loss after U.S. President Donald Trump delayed a decision on entering the Israel-Iran conflict.
Spot gold was little changed at $3,369.63 an ounce, as of 1157 a.m. EDT (1557 GMT), its lowest since June 12, while the index was down 1.8% for the week.
U.S. gold futures shed 0.7% to $3,385.50.
"Gold is holding steady as Trump backtracks on an 'imminent' attack on Iran. For the moment, it seems all the bad news is out," said Tai Wong, an independent metals trader.
"A drawdown towards $3,250/oz is possible, but dips have been aggressively bought in this gold rally."
Trump will decide in the next two weeks whether the United States will get involved in the Israel-Iran air war, the White House said on Thursday, raising pressure on Tehran to negotiate.
Iran launched a new barrage of missiles at Israel early on Friday, striking near residential apartments, office buildings and industrial facilities in the southern city of Beersheba.
Gold is traditionally considered a hedge during times of political and economic uncertainty.
Meanwhile, the U.S. central bank held interest rates steady on Wednesday. While policymakers still anticipate cutting rates by half a percentage point this year, they slightly slowed the pace from there to a single quarter-percentage-point cut in each of 2026 and 2027.
A high-interest-rate environment is unfavourable to gold as it is a non-yielding asset.
"We still see sound demand from safe-haven seekers and central banks, which should provide sound support to gold prices on current levels," said Carsten Menke, an analyst at Julius Baer.
Spot silver fell 1.1% to $35.98 per ounce, and was down 0.9% for the week. Palladium lost 0.2% to $1,048.61 but was up 2.1% during the week. Platinum dropped 2.6% to $1,271.55, but on track for its third straight weekly gain.
(Reporting by Sarah Qureshi and Ashitha Shivaprasad in Bengaluru; Additional reporting by Anushree Mukherjee; Editing by Vijay Kishore; Editing by Rod Nickel)
