Gold affirms above $ 1,800 and heads for second weekly high

Gold prices rose on Thursday, a day of limited operations due to the year-end holidays, although an improvement in risk appetite limited the uptrend.

Spot gold was up 0.2% at $ 1,807.49 an ounce at 09:44 GMT, while US gold futures were up 0.3% at $ 1,808.30 an ounce.

Low trading volume and holiday shopping keep gold above the $ 1,800 level, said Michael Langford, director of corporate advisory AirGuide. He added that the surge in risk investing ahead of Christmas, the so-called “Santa Claus rally,” was creating a positive near-term environment for the metal.

The dollar index, which is headed for a weekly decline, recovered slightly but hovered near a week-long low against riskier rival currencies, making gold less attractive to investors outside of the United States.

Helped by the decline in the dollar, gold has racked up around 0.5% in a week cut short by the Christmas Eve market holiday on Friday, in what could be its second consecutive weekly rise.

Among other precious metals, silver was up 0.3% at US $ 22.83 an ounce; while platinum rose 0.3% to US $ 967.75 an ounce; and palladium was down 0.3% at $ 1,876.23 an ounce.