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Gold and sliver are ending the week up, with safe-haven demand urging investors to buy. Meanwhile, copper was mostly flat on Friday while oil was down.
“It seems that today’s move in gold is driven by risk-off sentiment,” HSBC analyst Howard Wen told Reuters. “The metal broke above $1,300 … a bit of technical buying, a stronger euro/dollar have also helped give some support to prices.”
U.S. gold futures for June delivery gained 1.1 percent or $14.34to $1.304.40 an ounce.
Silver was up 0.7 percent or $0.14 to trade at $19.73 per ounce on Friday, Reuters reported.
Unlike precious metals, base metals responded poorly to ongoing geopolitical tensions on Friday. However, copper found rising seasonal demand in China to be a fortunate turn of events. Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange was up 0.33 percent or $22.35 to $6,775 per tonneon Friday, according to Reuters.
Helen Lau, senior metals analyst at UOB-Kay Hian Securities in Hong Kong, told Reuters copper might move higher in the short term on Chinese seasonal demand.
“If you ask fabricators, their order books are all pretty good,” Lau said.
Copper for May delivery on the Comex was little changed, trading at $3.12 per pound, according to MarketWatch. However, the red metal looks like it could be on track for a 2.6 percent gain on the week.
Brent crude oil prices fell more than a dollar per barrel on Friday, and came to rest at $109.47 per barrel. According to analysts, investors had built in risk premium to handle the Ukraine crisis already, and so engaged in profit-taking before the weekend.
“The market seems to be shrugging off the geopolitical risk, and there was some profit taking on the Brent market after it climbed back over $110,” Gene McGillian, analyst with Tradition Energy, told Reuters.