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Gold to lose a weekly loss as US delays decision on Middle East involvement

Gold prices were stable on Friday, and are expected to fall by a significant amount this week after U.S. president Donald Trump deferred a decision about entering the Israel-Iran war.

As of 1742 GMT, spot gold was unchanged at $3,368.68 per ounce as of 0142 EDT. This is its lowest price since June 12. The index fell 1.8% in the past week.

U.S. Gold Futures closed 0.7% lower at $3,385.70.

Gold is stable as Trump reverses his stance on an "imminent" attack on Iran. Tai Wong, a metals trader, said that for the moment it appears all the bad information is out.

The gold rally has seen dips aggressively purchased.

The White House announced on Thursday that Trump would decide within the next two weeks if the United States would get involved in Israel-Iran's air war. This will increase pressure on Tehran to engage in negotiations.

Iran launched another barrage of rockets against Israel in the early hours of Friday morning, hitting near residential apartments, offices and industrial facilities located in Beersheba, a southern city.

Gold has traditionally been considered a hedge in times of political or economic uncertainty.

The U.S. Central Bank held rates at the same level on Wednesday. While policymakers still anticipate cutting rates by half a percentage point this year, they slightly slowed the pace from there to a single quarter-percentage-point cut in each of 2026 and 2027.

Gold is not a yielding asset and is therefore unfavorable in a high-interest rate environment.

Carsten Menke is an analyst with Julius Baer. He said: "We continue to see a strong demand for gold from central banks and safe-haven investors, which should support the current price of gold."

Silver spot fell 1%, to $36.02 an ounce. It was down 0.7% on the week. Palladium fell 0.1% to $1.049, but gained 2.1% for the week. Platinum fell 3.1% to $1.266.72, on course for its third consecutive weekly gain. (Reporting and editing by Vijay Kishore, Rod Nickel, and Ashitha Mukherjee in Bengaluru. Additional reporting by Anushree mukherjee.

(source: Reuters)