LONDON: Gold rose to a four-month high on Friday and was on track for a fifth straight weekly gain as the dollar fell against the euro on an agreemement for a political coalition in Germany.
Spot gold rose 0.7 percent to $1,331.62 an ounce by 1102 GMT, having touched its highest since Sept. 15 at $1,333.02. The precious metal is up 0.9 percent this week and set for its longest run of weekly gains since April.
US gold futures were up 0.7 percent at $1,332.30. The dollar index , which measures the greenback against six major currencies, fell to its lowest since Sept. 11 at 91.308.
The euro jumped to a three-year high after party sources said that German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives and the Social Democrats (SPD) had agreed a blueprint for formal coalition negotiations. “This agreement of a coalition will change that situation of a hung parliament in Germany and that is why the euro is positive, weakening the US dollar, which is one of the reasons why gold is firmer this morning,” said Quantitative Commodity Research consultant Peter Fertig.
Friday’s news from Germany helped the euro to extend gains made on Thursday after minutes from a December European Central Bank meeting signalled that the ECB could begin to wind down its 2.5 trillion euro ($3 trillion) stimulus program this year. A stronger euro potentially boosts demand for gold by making dollar-priced bullion cheaper for European investors. “There was some strong buying out of China on Friday suggesting some physical demand ahead of Lunar New year,” said Stephen Innes, APAC head of trading at Oanda.
The dollar was pressured by data showing that producer prices in the United States fell for the first time in nearly 1-1/2 years in December amid declining costs for services. US Consumer Price Index (CPI) data is due later on Friday.
Among other precious metals, spot silver rose 0.9 percent to $17.13 an ounce, heading for its first weekly loss in five weeks. Silver is up 0.6 percent so far this week. Platinum rose 1 percent to touch its highest since Sept. 11 at $997, on track for a fifth straight weekly gain. Platinum is up 2.5 percent so far this week. Palladium was up 0.4 percent at $1,087.93 after dropping on Thursday to a more than one-week low at $1,075.50.
Gold price hits four-month high as dollar slumps
Gold price hits four-month high as dollar slumps
QatarEnergy announces force majeure following Iran attacks: statement
DOHA: Qatar’s state-run energy firm on Wednesday declared force majeure following attacks on two of its main facilities that halted liquefied natural gas production and as Iran pressed missile and drone attacks across the Gulf.
“Further to the announcement by QatarEnergy to stop production of liquefied natural gas and associated products, QatarEnergy has declared Force Majeure to its affected buyers,” the company said in a statement.
QatarEnergy invoked the clause, which shields it from penalties and potential breach of contract claims from clients, after stopping LNG production on Monday.
Iranian drones attacked two of the company’s main production hubs in Ras Laffan Industrial City, 80 km north of Doha and in Mesaieed 40 km south of the Qatari capital, Doha’s ministry of defense said at the time.
The Gulf state is one of the world’s top liquefied natural gas producers, alongside the US, Australia and Russia.
On Tuesday, QatarEnergy said it would halt some downstream production of some products including urea, polymers, methanol, aluminum and others.
Qatar shares the world’s largest natural gas reservoir with Iran.
QatarEnergy estimates the Gulf state’s portion of the reservoir, the North Field, holds about 10 percent of the world’s known natural gas reserves.
In recent years, Qatar has inked a series of long-term LNG deals with France’s Total, Britain’s Shell, India’s Petronet, China’s Sinopec and Italy’s Eni, among others.
