Palestine Economy Portal.

Gold prices rose on Thursday, as the rapid spread of the "Corona" virus outside China fueled demand for safe-haven assets, and boosted interest-rate bets from major central banks, while palladium reached a record high on concerns over supply shortages.

The spot price of gold was up 0.8 percent to $ 1651.95 an ounce. Prices jumped more than 1 percent during Wednesday's trading, but closed up only 0.3 percent.

US gold futures increased 0.7 percent to $ 1654.

"The demand for safe havens is currently strong due to the impact of the Corona virus on the global economy," said ANZ analyst Daniel Heinz. There are growing expectations that central banks will undoubtedly need to take action if proliferation continues, especially outside China.

In other precious metals, palladium fell 0.1 percent to $ 2787.64 an ounce, after hitting a record high of $ 2847.50 earlier in the session.

"An increase in palladium prices is likely, but the metal is on the rise due to concerns about supply shortages and generally positive sentiment towards precious metals," said Jigar Trivedi, commodity analyst at Anand Rathi, a brokerage in Mumbai.

And platinum increased 1.2 percent to 921.62 dollars, after earlier touching its lowest level since December, while silver rose 1.3 percent to 18.12 dollars an ounce, after recording the lowest price in a week during the previous session.