Gold on Monday extended its biggest weekly gain in five weeks as the US dollar fell against the euro, while US political turmoil fuelled demand for bullion as a safe-haven and reduced expectations of rapid US interest rate rises. Spot gold was up 0.5 percent at $1,260.96 an ounce at 3:05 pm EDT (1905 GMT), while US gold futures settled 0.6 percent higher at $1,261.40.
The metal advanced by 2.2 percent last week as the furore over US President Donald Trump's alleged links to Russia and his firing of former Federal Bureau of Investigation chief James Comey raised concerns about his ability to push through promised fiscal stimulus.
That caused a rush to safe-haven assets such as gold and drove US stocks, the dollar and US bond yields lower, reducing the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding bullion and making gold cheaper for holders of other currencies. Gold investors were looking to news from Washington, said Commerzbank analyst Carsten Fritsch. "If this escalates further and impeachment claims intensify, Trump will find it very difficult to push forward his ambitious tax cut and infrastructure spending plans," Fritsch told the Reuters Global Gold Forum on Monday.
In other precious metals, spot platinum rose 0.5 percent to $942.90. Silver was up 1.9 percent at $17.14 an ounce, after rising to the highest in three weeks at $17.21. Palladium was 1.44 percent higher at $770.40, after falling to $748.97, the lowest since March 15.
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