PRECIOUS-China stimulus, US rate cut bets lift gold, silver soars above $30 mark

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Gold up 2% so far for the week

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Silver breaks above $30/oz milestone, up 9% this week

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Platinum gains 8% this week

(Updates prices as of 1635 GMT and adds record high LBMA prices in paragraph 7)

By Harshit Verma

May 17 (Reuters) – Gold prices, aided by China’s stimulus measures, looked poised to clock their second consecutive weekly gain on Friday on renewed hopes for U.S. interest rate cuts, with silver breaking the $30 barrier to hit an 11-year high.

Spot gold rose 1.4% to $2,409.93 per ounce by 1635 GMT, closing in towards an all-time high of $2,431.29 hit on April 12.

U.S. gold futures rose 1.2% to $2,414.50.

“Gold is moving higher despite of (an uptick in) the dollar and yields. I think in this instance, China stimulus has helped as we’re also seeing other (base) metals do very well,” said Bart Melek, head of commodity strategies at TD Securities.

The market was lifted after China, a major consumer of industrial metals as well as gold, announced “historic” steps to stabilise the crisis-hit property sector.

Spot gold prices are up 2% so far this week.

Meanwhile, London’s gold price benchmark ended the week at a record high of $2402.60 per troy ounce, the London Bullion Market Association (LBMA) said.

“Ultimately gold is responding to the idea that U.S. inflation is probably under control … any talk of a prolonged period of high interest rates is going to be mitigated,” Melek said.

Traders expect roughly two quarter-point cuts from the Fed this year, with November being the most likely starting point.

Lower interest rates tend to boost non-yielding bullion’s appeal.

Spot silver rose 3.9% to $30.75 per ounce after breaking above a major resistance level of $30. The last time silver hit the $30 price level was in early 2021, but sustaining it for an extended period has eluded silver for more than a decade.

“Anytime we’re talking about China stimulating, that is accretive for platinum markets,” Melek said.

Platinum added 1.7% to $1,075.33, after hitting a one-year high on Thursday. The metal is up 8% so far this week due to continued structural deficits.

Palladium rose 1% to $1,003.34.

(Reporting by Harshit Verma in Bengaluru; Additional reporting by Polina Devitt in London; Editing by Alan Barona)

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