BENGALURU: Gold prices rose on Friday, having hit a one-week high earlier in the session, as investors sought safe-haven assets amid fears of a chaotic departure for Britain from the European Union.
UK Prime Minister Theresa May’s draft Brexit plan ran into a dispute after the resignation of key ministers from her government and Eurosceptic lawmakers stepped up efforts to topple her, provoking fears the country could crash out of the EU without a divorce deal.
Spot gold was up 0.2 percent at $1,214.93 per ounce, as of 0720 GMT. Earlier in the session, the bullion hit $1,216.79, its highest since Nov. 9.
Prices are expected to end the week higher after declining nearly 2 percent last week.
U.S. gold futures were flat at $1,215.3 per ounce.
The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, was at 96.91, not far from a 16-month high of 97.69 hit at the start of the week.
Investors also kept an eye on the U.S.-China trade tensions as they looked for concrete signs the economic powers were seeking to de-escalate their dispute.
Among other precious metals, palladium edged 0.3 percent lower to $1,153 per ounce, having hit a record high of $1,178.30 per ounce in the previous session.
Palladium is on track to mark its biggest weekly gain since Sept. 21 having risen over 3 percent so far.
Silver was up 0.1 percent $14.30 per ounce. The metal rose about 1 percent so far this week.
Platinum climbed 0.1 percent to $842.20 an ounce but was down about 1 percent for the week so far.
