PRECIOUS-Gold, silver gain in volatile trade; CME hikes margins again

By Ishaan Arora

Feb 6 (Reuters) - Gold rose, and silver was gripped by volatility on Friday amid a rout in global stocks, while U.S. exchange operator CME raised margins on precious metals for a third time this year to mitigate risks.

Spot gold XAU= rose 2.3% to $4,879.45 per ounce by 0552 GMT, and was up 0.3% for the week. U.S. gold futures GCcv1 for April delivery added 0.2% to $4,897.20 per ounce.

Spot silver XAG= was up 3.8% at $73.91 an ounce on the day after falling about 10% during early Asia trade to below the $65-level, which is a more than 1-1/2-month low. It had plunged 19.1% in the last session.

For the week, the white metal was down more than 13% after shedding 18% last week, its biggest weekly fall since 2011.

China's sole silver futures fund, UBS SDIC Silver Futures fund 161226.SZ, slumped by its 10% daily limit on Friday, its sixth straight session of decline.

"There's all kinds of evidence that risk sentiment in general is weakening. In this environment, gold is kind of holding its own and silver is caving in under the risk-off," said Ilya Spivak, head of global macro at Tastylive.

Global equities extended losses into a third session as a selloff on Wall Street intensified, with precious metals and cryptocurrencies gripped by wrenching volatility. MKTS/GLOB

"The correction in gold and silver prices came at the right time, just before Chinese New Year. So we could see more buying by Chinese consumers," said ANZ analyst Soni Kumari, adding that near-term volatility can continue until some unwinding of weak positions. GOL/AS

CME Group hiked margin requirements for gold and silver contracts on Thursday as the world's largest commodities exchange seeks to mitigate risks associated with heightened volatility.

Spot platinum XPT= added 0.4% to $1,993.95 per ounce after hitting an all-time high of $2,918.80 on January 26, while palladium XPD= gained 2.2% to $1,651.74. Both were down for the week.