Gold is heading towards the best weekly performance in more than 3 years for reasons of trade and growth

(Reuters) – Gold surpbaded the high level of USD 1,500 on Friday, garnering the best weekly performance since April 2016, while the yellow metal is experiencing a new buying trend, constituting a safe haven because escalating trade disputes between China and the United States. And worried about a slowdown in the global economy.

At 0601 GMT, spot gold rose 0.5% to $ 1507.22 an ounce. Earlier this week, gold prices broke the $ 1,500 mark for the first time since April 2013.

The precious metal has risen 4.6% since the beginning of the week and is heading towards its best weekly performance for more than three years.

Futures on US gold rose 0.6% to $ 1,519 an ounce.

Gold has risen more than 17% since the beginning of the year and more than 100 dollars last week, driven by trade tensions and the tendency of central banks to ease monetary policy in the face of the slowdown the growth.

In the latest development in the long-standing dispute between the world's two largest economies, a report said Washington was delaying the decision on licensing US companies to resume trading with Huawei Technologies.

At the same time, the financial markets were turned upside down by the central banks of New Zealand, Thailand and India, which proceeded to a series of brutal cuts in interest rates, a sign of the financial crisis. a tool in decline for policy makers to combat the economic slowdown.

On Thursday, US President Donald Trump reiterated his dissatisfaction with the strength of the US dollar and said that Federal Reserve interest rates were hurting US manufacturers.

The reduction in interest rates reduces the opportunity cost of acquiring unproductive yellow metal and pressure on the dollar, making gold cheaper for investors than for holders of other currencies.

The dollar index is heading towards the first weekly decline in four weeks.

For other precious metals, silver jumped 1.2% to 17.11 dollars an ounce and forecasts a weekly gain of more than 5%.

Platinum grew 0.5% to 865.08 USD and is targeting its best weekly performance in four weeks.

Palladium rose 0.3% to $ 1,425.42 an ounce.

(Reuters)