By Bharat Gautam
(Reuters) – Gold edged up on Friday, a day after prices soared to 18-month highs only to reverse course and close lower after Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, while supply concerns supported palladium prices.
Spot gold fell 0.4% to $1,894.76 per ounce by 1305 GMT, yet was set for a fourth consecutive weekly gain. U.S. gold futures dipped 1.4% to $1,898.50.
“The market is consolidating after the big surprise yesterday,” said Xaio Fu, head of commodities markets strategy at Bank of China International.
“The risk premium and safe haven demand will continue to support gold, but the upside is limited by the possible rate hike by the U.S. Federal Reserve this March.”
Prices of the safe-haven metal on Thursday rallied over 3% to as high as $1,973.96 after Russia attacked Ukraine, before slipping below the key $1,900 per ounce level. Missiles pounded the Ukrainian capital on Friday.
“The market had got ahead of itself to a large extent,” independent analyst Ross Norman said, adding gold could have been used to fund possible margin calls after a sharp decline in equities, triggering the pullback in bullion prices from highs. [MKTS/GLOB]
Palladium was up 0.6% to $2,415.68 and was on course for a third weekly rise.
The metal touched $2,711.18 on Thursday, its highest since July last year, as investors feared possible supply disruptions out of Russia, a major palladium producer.
“Gold and palladium prices will remain elevated and if the West brings something with more of a punch to the table, we could see them rallying once more,” said Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at OANDA.
“There’s plenty of appetite for gold as there remains enormous uncertainty,” Erlam said.
Exchange-traded funds that invest in gold and other precious metals have seen massive inflows this year.
Spot silver inched 0.3% lower to $24.13 per ounce and platinum fell 0.4%, to $1,053.09.
(Reporting by Bharat Govind Gautam, Seher Dareen and Swati Verma in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri and Vinay Dwivedi)
