Gold prices rise with the spread of Delta virus - Economist

Gold prices rose on Friday, as growing concerns about the spread of the delta strain of the Coronavirus and its impact on the economic recovery damaged risk sentiment.

And gold rose in immediate trading 0.3% to $ 1785.93 an ounce before the opening of the European stock exchanges, to rise now about 0.4% in the week.

And US gold futures rose 0.3% to $ 1788.10.

And a number of analysts said that pessimism about the outlook for the economy in the medium-term supports gold.

What curbed the gains of the yellow metal was that the safe-haven competitor, the dollar, resided near its highest level in more than 9 months, benefiting from concerns about the Coronavirus and expectations that the US Federal Reserve would start reducing stimulus this year.

Gold is considered a hedge against inflation and currency instability. And the US central bank cut stimulus would end both situations, reducing the attractiveness of gold.

As for other precious metals, silver settled at $23.24 an ounce and is heading for the third consecutive weekly decline.

Platinum rose 0.9% to $981.69 but was down more than four percent for the week.

And palladium gained 1.2 percent to $ 2339.92, but it is heading towards the worst week since March 2020, to drop nearly 12 percent.