Gold stable

Reuters

Bengaluru

Gold prices held firm on Friday not far from over one-week highs hit the session before, remaining on course for their first weekly rise in three.

Spot gold had edged down 0.1 percent to $1,224.90 per ounce by 0050 GMT.

The metal hit $1,233.13, the highest since March 6 in the previous session.

U.S. gold futures fell 0.2 percent to $1,224.60 Holdings of SPDR Gold Trust, the world´s largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, fell 0.28 percent to 837.06 tonnes on Thursday from 839.43 tonnes on Wednesday. The Fed on Wednesday raised U.S. interest rates for the second time in three months, as expected, but did not flag any plan to accelerate the pace of monetary tightening as some investors had anticipated. Dutch centre-right Prime Minister Mark Rutte fought off the challenge of anti-Islam and anti-EU rival Geert Wilders to score an election victory that was hailed across Europe by governments facing a rising wave of nationalism.