Gold retained sharp overnight gains to trade near a 16-week high on Friday and was poised to post its sixth weekly rise in a row, as troubles at a Portuguese bank hammered equities and stoked safe-haven demand for bullion.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot goldinched up 0.1 percent to $1,336.36 an ounce by 0028 GMT, after closing up 0.7 percent on Thursday, when it rose to a peak of $1,345 - the metal's highest since March 19.
* Gold has gained over 1 percent this week. The sixth weekly gain is gold's longest winning streak since Feb-March when it had a similar run.
* European and U.S. stock markets fell, and bond yields of Europe's southern nations rose on Thursday as investor fears over financial troubles at the family-owned holding companies behind Banco Espirito Santospilled across markets and borders.
* Meanwhile, India surprised bullion markets by keeping the import duty on gold and silver unchanged at 10 percent in its fiscal budget, a move likely to limit overseas purchases by the second-biggest bullion consumer and further encourage smuggling.
* SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, said its holdings fell 0.23 tonnes to 800.05 tonnes on Thursday.
* Among other precious metals, platinumand palladium were both headed for their fourth straight weekly gain, while silver was on track for a sixth weekly gain tracking gold.
* For the top stories on metals and other news, click
MARKET NEWS
* Stocks slumped worldwide on Thursday and investors flocked to safe-haven assets such as government bonds, Japanese yen and gold on fears problems at Portugal's biggest listed bank could herald a wider slump for riskier assets.
Source: Reuters
FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold
* Gold has gained over 1 percent this week. The sixth weekly gain is gold's longest winning streak since Feb-March when it had a similar run.
* European and U.S. stock markets fell, and bond yields of Europe's southern nations rose on Thursday as investor fears over financial troubles at the family-owned holding companies behind Banco Espirito Santo
* Meanwhile, India surprised bullion markets by keeping the import duty on gold and silver unchanged at 10 percent in its fiscal budget, a move likely to limit overseas purchases by the second-biggest bullion consumer and further encourage smuggling.
* SPDR Gold Trust
* Among other precious metals, platinum
* For the top stories on metals and other news, click
MARKET NEWS
* Stocks slumped worldwide on Thursday and investors flocked to safe-haven assets such as government bonds, Japanese yen and gold on fears problems at Portugal's biggest listed bank could herald a wider slump for riskier assets.
