Gold rises, posts 5.5% weekly gain

Gold bars

Gold prices rose on Friday, supported by the decline in the dollar and increased demand for safe-haven assets after US President Trump renewed his trade threats.

The yellow metal’s futures contracts for June delivery climbed by 2.14%, or $70.8, to $3,365.80 per ounce, recording a weekly gain of 5.6%.

Trump threatened to raise tariffs on imports from the European Union to 50% starting early next month and to impose a 25% tariff on iPhones produced by Apple outside the US.

This escalated the trade risk premium in commodity markets and added to the pressure on the US currency, as investor confidence in US assets weakened.

The dollar index fell by 0.84% to 99 points at 9:46 pm Makkah time, deepening its weekly losses to 1.95%, which provided further support for gold.