Gold prices finished higher on Friday, paring an already modest weekly loss as weakness in global stocks boosted haven demand for the commodity.
The yellow metal saw some so-called short covering to end the week, finding support from the threat of another U.S. government shutdown, with temporary funding expiring on Feb. 15, and intensifying concerns surrounding Brexit, said George Gero, managing director at RBC Wealth Management. "Buyers in Europe for gold may also meet buyers of gold in China after Lunar New Year." Financial markets in China remained closed for the holiday and will reopen Monday.
April gold GCJ9, +0.30% on Comex rose $4.30, or 0.3%, to settle at $1,318.50 an ounce, leaving it down 0.3% for the week. Gold, based on the most-active contracts, has still climbed by 2.9% since the end of last year.
March silver SIH9, +0.71% added 9.6 cents, or 0.6%, to $15.809 an ounce with prices down 0.8% for the week.
Gold bulls said growing concerns about global growth should provide underlying support. The European Central Bank last month took a more dovish-than-expected stance amid continued weakness in European data, while the Federal Reserve last week surprised investors with a dovish pivot, putting future rate moves on hold until further notice. The Reserve Bank of Australia has also struck a dovish tone and the Bank of England on Thursday offered a downbeat outlook for growth amid Brexit uncertainty.
Read: How a flagging European economy adds to global growth fears
"The fact that we are seeing major central banks turn dovish at the same time is probably alarming for some investors, which may explain why stocks have failed to sustain their rally. But this is good news for bonds and therefore noninterest-bearing and low-yielding assets such as gold and silver," said Fawad Razaqzada, market analyst at Forex.com, in a note.
"What's more, with the dollar index having just completed a six-day rally, you would think that these dollar-denominated metals would simultaneously be down for the same number of days. However, over the last six trading days, gold has only been down on three occasions, while silver has been down on 5 occasions, although higher today," he said.
The ICE U.S. Dollar Index DXY, +0.07% a measure of the U.S. currency against a basket of six major rivals, was up 0.1% on Friday as gold futures settled, set for a weekly rise of 1.1%. A stronger dollar can be a negative for commodities priced in the unit because it makes it more expensive to users of other currencies.
U.S. benchmark stock indexes were broadly lower, putting equities on track for three days of losses.
In other metals trade, April platinum PLJ9, +0.64% was up 0.7% to settle at $802.50 an ounce - for a weekly decline of 2.9%. March palladium PAH9, +1.50% rose 1% to $1,371.20 an ounce - another record settlement and a weekly gain of 4.4%.
March copper HGH9, -0.53% fell 0.6% to $2.811 a pound. It saw a weekly gain of 1.4%.
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Among the exchange-traded funds, SPDR Gold Shares GLD, +0.38% added 0.4%, though traded 0.2% lower on the week.