Gold hit its highest in 2-1/2 months on Friday and remained on track for its biggest annual rise since 2010 as a wilting dollar, political tensions and receding concerns over the impact of U.S. interest rate hikes fed into its rally.
The dollar, in which gold is priced, is sliding towards its worst year since 2003, damaged by tensions over North Korea, the Russian scandal surrounding U.S. President Donald Trump’s election campaign, and persistently low U.S. inflation. [FRX/]
The dollar’s drop to three-month lows versus a basket of currencies on Friday lifted gold to its highest since mid October at $1,303.90 an ounce.
At 1430 GMT spot gold XAU= was at $1,302.72 an ounce, up 0.2 percent, while U.S. gold futures GCv1 for February delivery were up $7.80 an ounce at $1,305.00.
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