India, Feb. 7 -- Despite a stronger dollar, gold futures settled higher on Friday, and notched up a strong weekly gain as well, on safe-haven buying amid concerns over China-U.S. tensions, and potential new tariffs on imports from Canada, Mexico and the European Union.
Investors presumably bet on more interest rate cuts from central banks. The Bank of England, the ECB, and the Bank of Canada all lowered their interest rates at their latest policy meetings. The Fed left its rate unchanged last week, but is expected to lower rates at least twice this year.
The dollar index, which climbed to 108.32, pared some gains subsequently, but still remained firm at 108.05, up 0.34% from previous close.
Gold futures for February closed up $11.30 or a...