Gold prices in sight of record high amid growth fears, rate cut bets

Investing.com-- Gold prices rose in Asian trade on Friday and were in sight of a record high as a rout in global markets, amid concerns over an economic slowdown, fueled safe haven buying into the yellow metal.

Bullion was sitting on strong price gains this week as bets on U.S. interest rate cuts weighed on the dollar and dented Treasury yields. Heightened tensions in the Middle East, after the killing of a Hamas leader, also spurred some safe haven demand for the yellow metal. 

Spot gold rose 0.5% to $2,458.49 an ounce, while gold futures expiring in December  rose 0.9% to $2,502.60 an ounce by 01:18 ET (05:18 GMT). 

Gold heads for weekly gains; nonfarm payrolls awaited 

Spot prices were set to add over 3% this week- their best week since March. 

The yellow metal benefited from safe haven demand as weak purchasing managers index and employment data from the U.S. ramped up concerns over a slowdown in the world’s largest economy. 

The data triggered steep declines on Wall Street, which spilled over into Asian trade and sparked a broad risk-off move. This fueled safe haven bids for gold.

The weak data also came after the Federal Reserve flagged the potential for an interest rate cut in September, which saw markets almost entirely price in a 25 basis point in the month. 

Focus was now on upcoming nonfarm payrolls data, for more cues on the U.S. economy. A cooling labor market furthers the prospect of interest rate cuts by the Fed. 

Lower interest rates bode well for precious metal prices, given that they decrease the opportunity cost of investing in non-yielding assets. 

Platinum futures rose 0.7% to $977.25 an ounce, while silver futures jumped 1.6% to $28.925 an ounce. 

Copper nurses weekly losses amid growth fears 

Among industrial metals, copper prices rebounded on Friday, but were headed for a fourth consecutive week of losses amid growing concerns that a global economic slowdown will hurt demand.

Benchmark copper futures on the London Metal Exchange rose 0.2% to $9,073.0 a tonne, while one-month copper futures rose 0.6% to $4.0900 a pound. Both contracts were down mildly this week and were set for a fourth straight week of losses. 

Losses in copper were sparked by weak PMI readings from both the U.S. and China, which showed a slowdown in manufacturing activity.