Market News
Gold, silver gain in volatile trade; CME hikes margins again - REUTERS
By Ishaan Arora
Feb 6 (Reuters) - Gold rose, and silver was gripped by volatility on Friday amid a rout in global stocks, while U.S. exchange operator CME raised margins on precious metals for a third time this year to mitigate risks.
Spot gold rose 2.3% to $4,879.45 per ounce by 0552 GMT, and was up 0.3% for the week. U.S. gold futures for April delivery added 0.2% to $4,897.20 per ounce.
Spot silver was up 3.8% at $73.91 an ounce on the day after falling about 10% during early Asia trade to below the $65-level, which is a more than 1-1/2-month low. It had plunged 19.1% in the last session.
For the week, the white metal was down more than 13% after shedding 18% last week, its biggest weekly fall since 2011.
China's sole silver futures fund, UBS SDIC Silver Futures fund, slumped by its 10% daily limit on Friday, its sixth straight session of decline.
"There's all kinds of evidence that risk sentiment in general is weakening. In this environment, gold is kind of holding its own and silver is caving in under the risk-off," said Ilya Spivak, head of global macro at Tastylive.
Global equities extended losses into a third session as a selloff on Wall Street intensified, with precious metals and cryptocurrencies gripped by wrenching volatility. [MKTS/GLOB]
