U.S. Comex gold futures for August delivery remained up by 1.13%. Gold retained sharp overnight gains to trade near a 16-week high on Friday and was poised to post its sixth weekly rise in a row, as troubles at a Portuguese bank hammered equities and stoked safe-haven demand for bullion. European and U.S. stock markets fell, and bond yields of Europe's southern nations rose on Thursday as investor fears over financial troubles at the family-owned holding companies behind Banco Espirito Santo spilled across markets and borders.
India surprised bullion markets by keeping the import duty on gold and silver unchanged at 10% in its fiscal budget, a move likely to limit overseas purchases by the second-biggest bullion consumer and further encourage smuggling. SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, said its holdings fell 0.23 tons to 800.05 tons on Thursday.
Emkay Commodity Research expects gold prices to remain higher for the day as uncertainty in Euro area and safe haven buying can push the prices higher.