London (AFP)
Gold hit a record high on Friday as global stock markets diverged, with profit-taking on Wall Street while European and Asian markets gained on reassuring data about the health of the world's biggest economy and likely US interest rate cuts.
Expectations of US interest rate cuts weakened the dollar.
Gold rose to a record high of $2,500.16 an ounce as investors snapped up the haven investment in the face of an increasingly likely US interest rate cut in September and heightened geopolitical risks.
"The sharp drop in bond yields amid expectations of rate cuts by the Fed" have pushed gold prices higher, said City Index and FOREX.com analyst Fawad Razaqzada.