Gold Heads For Weekly Loss As Middle East Truce Saps Demand

Gold headed for its second consecutive weekly loss, after a ceasefire between Israel and Iran dented demand for havens.

Bullion edged lower early in Asia to around $3,315 an ounce and was down about 1.5% for the week. The precious metal has generally been confined to a narrow trading band this week, except for Tuesday when it slumped as the Middle East rivals honored a ceasefire agreement after almost two weeks of warfare.

The truce has signaled a return to risk-on market sentiment, which continued into Friday after Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said in a Bloomberg TV interview that the US and China have finalized a trade framework and the White House has imminent plans to reach agreements with a set of 10 major trading partners. Still, details of any potential deals are vague.

Bullion remains up more than a quarter this year, and is less than $200 away from its record high reached in April. Along with geopolitical and trade tensions, it’s been supported by robust central-bank buying and increased optimism the Federal Reserve is preparing to resume monetary easing, with lower rates typically a positive for the non-interest-bearing precious metal.

Gold was down 0.4% to $3,315.30 as of 8:30 a.m. Singapore time. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.1%. Silver was flat. Palladium climbed again and was up around 10% for the week. Platinum edged higher after hitting the highest level in more than a decade on Thursday.