Commodities Update — Gold firms; Soybeans at two-week high; Base metal prices surge

RIYADH: Gold prices extended gains on Thursday after comments on future interest rate hikes by the US Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell sounded less hawkish than feared, dragging the dollar and Treasury yields lower.

Spot gold was up 0.1 percent at $1,735.77 per ounce, as of 0436 GMT, after rising 1 percent to a two-week high in the previous session. US gold futures rose 0.9 percent to $1,734.50.

Silver gains

Spot silver gained 0.5 percent to $19.22 per ounce, while platinum rose 0.1 percent to $887.49.