London — Gold edged higher on Thursday as the dollar paused for breath, holding near its 2018 peak, with investors focused on US inflation data due later and simmering tensions between the US and Iran. The dollar slipped slightly from a four-and-a-half-month peak, hit as long-term US treasury yields held near the psychologically important 3% level. A strong dollar makes dollar-priced gold costlier for non-US investors. On Tuesday, US President Donald Trump withdrew the US from an international nuclear accord with Iran, raising the risk of conflict in the Middle East and increasing the appeal of safe-haven assets such as gold. "We’ve seen a turnaround in [the dollar] in the past few weeks but, actually, gold hasn’t gone down as far as you might think, so political tensions are helping," said Macquarie commodities strategist Matthew Turner. He added, however, that the dollar was the main driver for gold and expects the precious metal to come under pressure in the near term, with the d...
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