Gold rises, heads for 5th weekly ris

Gold rises on Friday after the US Federal Reserve cut interest rates by a quarter-point this week and signals further policy easing

Gold prices rose on Friday, heading for a fifth straight weekly gain after the US Federal Reserve cut interest rates by 25 basis points and signaled further monetary easing.

December gold futures climbed 0.3%, or $11.20, to $3,689.50 an ounce, while spot gold was up 0.25% at $3,654.15 by 08:36 a.m. in Mecca.

The dollar index was little changed at 97.39.

Silver futures for December delivery gained 1.1% to $42.59 an ounce. Spot platinum rose 0.2% to $1,389.19, while palladium added 0.5% to $1,165.96.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell described the rate cut as a “risk management” move in response to labor market weakness, stressing that policy decisions would be taken meeting by meeting, depending on incoming data.