Gold up; Wheat down by 6 percent; Copper rises

Gold hit its first weekly gain in six on Friday as a pullback in US Treasury yields and the dollar’s decline bolstered non-yielding bullion’s safe-haven appeal as economic risks persisted.

Spot gold rose and is currently priced at $1727.64. It was up about 1 percent so far this week, following a strong rebound from a more than one-year low of $1,680.25 on Thursday.

US gold futures settled at $1,745.30.

Wheat falls 6 percent on Ukraine grain export deal

US wheat futures fell nearly 6 percent on Friday to their lowest level since February after Russia and Ukraine signed a landmark deal to reopen Ukrainian Black Sea ports for grain exports, traders said.

Corn fell almost 2 percent on the news but soybean futures closed higher, rebounding from multi-month lows.

Chicago Board of Trade September wheat settled down 47-1/4 cents at $7.59 per bushel after dipping to $7.54, the contract’s lowest since Feb. 4.

December corn ended down 9-1/4 cents at $5.64-1/4 a bushel while November soybeans rose 14-1/4 cents to finish at $13.15-3/4, bouncing after a dip to $12.88-1/2, a six-month low.

Copper up

Copper prices were on track for their first weekly rise in seven weeks on Friday as investors returned to riskier assets following a brutal sell-off.

Benchmark copper on the London Metal Exchange was up 1.5 percent at $7,452.50 a ton, nearly 3.5 percent higher this week.