Gold is heading for its best weekly performance since March

Gold consolidated on Friday and is heading towards recording its best weekly performance in seven months due to tension in the Middle East and supported by expectations that US interest rates may have reached their peak while markets evaluate the latest data on inflation.

Gold in spot transactions increased 0.5 percent to $1,878.70 per ounce by 0727 GMT. Likewise, US gold futures rose 0.5 percent to $1,892.80.

US Treasury bond yields and the dollar reversed their course in Asian trading on Friday, following their rise in the last session after data showed an increase in US consumer prices in September.

Gold rose ahead of the inflation data to its highest levels in two weeks on Thursday, supported by the stance of senior policymakers at the Federal Reserve, which appeared to lean towards monetary easing and their indication that the recent rise in US Treasury yields may make the need to raise interest rates less necessary.

This, in addition to the demand for the yellow metal as a safe haven in light of the military clashes between Israel and the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), put gold, which does not generate a return, on track to achieve an increase of more than two percent this week, which is the largest percentage since mid-March.

As for other precious metals, silver rose in spot transactions by 1.3 percent to $22.17 per ounce.

Platinum rose 0.1 percent to $869.52, while palladium fell 0.1 percent to $1,143.60. But the two metals are on track to record a weekly loss.