Iraq News Now

Shafaq News/ Gold prices held steady on Friday and were poised for aseventh consecutive weekly gain as U.S. President Donald Trump's plans toimpose reciprocal tariffs on every country taxing U.S. imports fuelled concernsof a global trade war.

Spot gold held its ground at $2,927.50 per ounce, as of 0534 GMT.Bullion hit a record peak of $2,942.70 on Tuesday.

U.S. gold futures rose 0.4% to $2,956.30.

On Thursday, Trump tasked his economics team with devising plans forreciprocal tariffs on every country taxing U.S. imports, and the targetsinclude China, Japan, South Korea and the European Union.

A major trigger for gold prices this week was Trump's announcementto impose reciprocal tariffs, which is creating tariff war concerns and couldimpact global economies, said Ajay Kedia, director at Mumbai-based KediaCommodities.

The market is slightly overbought, which can create sometechnical profit booking after nearing the $3,000 level, Kedia said.

Meanwhile, data on Thursday showed the U.S. producer priceindex (PPI) saw a strong increase in January, following Wednesday's inflationreport that revealed consumer prices had risen at the fastest pace in nearly ayear and a half.

The PPI data offered more evidence that inflation wasaccelerating again and strengthened views that the Federal Reserve would notcut interest rates before the second half of the year.

Bullion is traditionally viewed as a safe haven againstinflation and economic uncertainty, but the appeal of this non-yielding assetdiminishes with rising interest rates.

U.S.-China trade breakthrough, de-escalation inRussia-Ukraine or Israel-Hamas conflicts, or strong U.S. data that takes Fedrate cuts off the table for this year are possible reasons for gold prices todrop and all seem to be unlikely in the near term, said Ilya Spivak, head ofglobal macro at Tastylive.

Spot silver gained 0.6% to $32.54 per ounce. Platinum was up0.2% at $997.46 and palladium rose 0.2% to $996.24. All three metals were setfor a weekly gain.

(Reuters)