Gold Heads for Largest Weekly Loss in a Month and a Half

SadaNews Economy - Gold is on track to record its largest weekly loss in six weeks during trading on this Friday, as exchanges of strikes between the U.S. and Iran escalate, pushing oil prices up and raising growing concerns about inflation, while bolstering expectations for a rise in U.S. interest rates.

Gold rose in spot trading by 0.2% to $3980.35 per ounce, after hitting its lowest level since early July earlier in the session.

Meanwhile, U.S. gold futures for August delivery fell to $3985.80 per ounce, according to CNBC.

Despite its gains during the session, the precious metal is heading for a weekly loss of about 3.2%, the largest since early June, as the impact of geopolitical tensions in the Middle East overshadowed the support gold received from U.S. inflation data for June, which this week came in below market expectations.

In other precious metals, silver declined in spot trading by 0.5% to $55.22 per ounce, platinum fell by 0.7% to $1605.62, and palladium dropped by 0.4% to $1244.86, as all three metals head towards recording a weekly loss.