British News Agency

Spot gold rose 0.2 percent to $2,592.17 per ounce, up about 0.6 percent for the week. U.S. gold futures edged up 0.1 percent to $2,617.30.

Bullion rose to a record high of $2,599.92 on Wednesday after the Fed began easing monetary policy with a half-percentage-point rate cut. The Fed also projected a further half-point reduction by year-end, a full point next year, and an additional half-point in 2026.

Spot silver rose nearly 1 percent to $31.09 per ounce, and palladium gained 0.6 percent to $1,086.75. Platinum was steady at $988.30 and down about 0.9 percent this week.

In the Middle East, Israeli warplanes carried out late on Thursday their most intense strikes on southern Lebanon in nearly a year of war, heightening the conflict between Israel and the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah.

China, the world’s largest gold consumer, refrained from gold imports from Switzerland in August, for the first time since January 2021, customs data from the world’s biggest bullion refining and transit hub showed on Thursday.