LONDON: Gold steadied on Thursday as a retreat in the dollar from 12-year highs arrested its eight-session slide, though speculation that US interest rates could rise sooner rather than later kept prices under pressure.

Spot gold was at $1,153.80 an ounce at 1454 GMT, little changed from the previous day, while US gold futures for April delivery were up $1.50 an ounce at $1,152.10. Earlier spot prices reached a high of $1,166.30 an ounce, but retreated as US stocks climbed at the open.

Silver was up 0.3 per cent at $15.51 an ounce, spot platinum was flat at $1,116.30 an ounce and spot palladium was also steady at $786.25 an ounce. Platinum hit its lowest in 5-1/2 years on Wednesday at $1,109.50 an ounce, before recovering.

Published in Dawn, March 13th, 2015

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