Gold edged higher on Friday and was poised for a second straight week of gains as persistent fears over the health of the world economy took a toll on global equities and the dollar, bringing in safe-haven bids for the metal.
Platinum and palladium were the biggest precious metal gainers of the day, recovering about 2 percent from sharp overnight losses.
Both metals have been pressured lower on concerns about global growth and weak equity markets, said HSBC analyst James Steel, noting that investors have built sizable long positions in platinum and palladium. But the lower prices could also spark physical buyers looking for bargains, he said.
"Although we saw no evidence of industrial or end user buying on Thursday's price drop, we anticipate that physical buying will materialize should the market decline further."
Platinum rose 1.2 percent to $1,251.70 an ounce by 0618 GMT. On Thursday, platinum fell below the price of gold for the first time since April 2013, before paring some losses to close down 1.3 percent.
Palladium was up over 1 percent at $743.72, after falling as much as 5 percent in the previous session.
Spot gold rose 0.1 percent to $1,240 an ounce. The metal is up about 1.4 percent for the week after reaching a one-month high of $1,249.30 on Wednesday.
Gold has been getting a boost along with other safe-haven assets such as bonds and the Japanese yen on increasing concerns over the global economy.
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