Metal prices fell, gold and silver rose, iron ore weakened and oil suffered yet another weekly sell-off.
Comex gold futures ended higher Friday for the third day in a row which meant a weekly gain of 1.2%.
The UK Brexit confusion and looming political debacle were given as a reason for Friday’s strength, and underlining that reason was a big surge in US bonds as yields on 10-year treasury securities fell to just over 3.06%.
Talk of a settlement or an easing in the US-China trade tensions also impacted sentiment.
Remember that at the start of October the yield on the 10-year security peaked at just over 3.26% and since then the chances of another rate rise from the US Federal reserve have risen, not fallen.
The US dollar sold off on Friday, which helped commodity prices like gold and copper rise. The Aussie dollar charged over 73 US cents and closed at 73.30, up just over a cent in a week.
Gold in New York for December delivery rose $US8, or 0.7%, to settle at $US1,223 an ounce, scoring a gain of around 1.2% for the week. December silver added 11.9 cents, or 0.8%, to $US14.382 an ounce, for a rise of 1.7% over the week.
Comex palladium futures meanwhile, continued their advance to a new all-time high, with the December contract up 1.5% to finish at $US1,154.60 an ounce.
Comex December copper rose 1.9% at $US2.799 a pound on Friday in New York.
It edged back over $US2.80 a pound in late trading. The gain for the week was a solid 4%.
In London three months LME copper added 0.3% on Friday to end at $US6,205 a tonne, up 2.4% for the week.
And LME zinc also had a solid week, notching up a 3.5% gain (and 1.2% on Friday) to end at $US2,607 a tonne. Lead prices closed 3.6% higher on Friday, while nickel and aluminum rose but tin eased a fraction.
Chinese iron ore index prices saw the cost of 62% ore delivered to northern China dip to $US75.31 from $US77.20. That was a fall of 2.4%.
