Gold prices rose on Thursday as the rapid spread of coronavirus outside China fueled demand for safe-haven assets and bolstered bets for interest rate cuts by major central banks, while palladium scaled an all-time high on supply deficit worries.

Spot gold rose 0.6% to $1,648.63 per ounce by 0836 GMT. Prices jumped more than 1% in intraday trade on Wednesday before closing 0.3% higher.

U.S. gold futures were up 0.5% at $1,650.50.

Governments ramped up measures on Thursday to battle the coronavirus as the number of infections outside China, the source of the outbreak, for the first time surpassed those appearing inside the country.

Source : Reuters