LONDON: Gold steadied on Friday after three days of declines and was heading for its first weekly drop in three as a stronger dollar and higher equities kept investor interest in check.
Bullion climbed to a three-week high on Tuesday, only to give up gains as world stocks rose on Thursday to their highest levels since late December, boosted by robust Chinese economic data and a surge in oil prices earlier this week.
Spot gold was up 0.1 percent at $1,229.06 an ounce by 1438 GMT, following a drop of 1.3 percent in the previous session. It was heading for a 1 percent loss for the week.
"Lately, we've had some indicators that the growth fears have eased and things are looking a bit more positive," Julius Baer commodity analyst Warren Kreyzig said. "But there are a lot of negative surprises on the economic data front."
Among other precious metals, silver was on track to post a 5 percent weekly gain — its biggest jump in six weeks. It was up 0.1 percent at $16.16 an ounce, having touched its highest level since October earlier this week.
Platinum was headed for its third straight weekly gain but was down 0.7 percent at $980.65, while palladium was up 0.5 percent at $564.68 and poised for its best week in six with a 4.4 percent rise.
Gold set for weekly drop on dollar’s gains
