Gold rises, heads for seventh straight weekly gain

Gold bars

Gold futures advanced on Friday, on track to post a seventh consecutive weekly gain, supported by expectations of further US interest rate cuts this year and concerns over the ongoing US government shutdown.

Gold futures (December delivery) rose 0.25% to $3,880 per ounce, bringing weekly gains to about 2%.

Spot gold was little changed at $3,857.34 per ounce as of 8:50 a.m. Makkah time.

The US dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, edged up 0.1% to 97.93.

As for other precious metals, silver futures (December delivery) climbed 1.65% to $47.13 per ounce.

Spot platinum slipped 0.6% to $1,567.52 per ounce.

Spot palladium added 0.4% to $1,252.10 per ounce.

The US government shutdown entered its third day, delaying the release of key economic data, including the closely watched nonfarm payrolls report scheduled for Friday.