Gold stable

Reuters

Bengaluru

Gold held firm early on Friday as the dollar hovered near one-week lows, putting the precious metal on track for a third week of gains amid political uncertainties in the U.S. and Europe.

Spot gold was mostly unchanged at $1,237.83 per ounce at 0049 GMT, while U.S. gold futures were down 0.2 percent at $1,239. Gold is up 0.3 percent so far for the week, and has risen about 7.5 percent so far this year.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies, was at 100.580. It hit an one-week low of 100.410 on Thursday. Concern over U.S. President Donald Trump´s policies, as well as elections in the Netherlands, France and Germany this year, have fueled gold´s rise to a peak of $1,244.67 on Feb. 8.

But the prospect of a higher dollar and U.S. Treasury yields after U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said that U.S. interest rates may need to be raised in March pushed gold to $1,216.41 on Wednesday, its lowest since February 3.