PRECIOUS-Gold heads for fourth monthly gain; silver hits fresh record high

By Pablo Sinha

Nov 28 (Reuters) - Spot gold rose 1% to a two-week high on Friday, as expectations that the Federal Reserve will trim interest rates next month lifted demand for the non-yielding asset, while silver hit a fresh record high.

Spot gold XAU= rose 0.9% to $4,192.78 per ounce by 10:09 a.m. ET (1510 GMT), its highest since November 14, and was set for a 2.9% weekly gain. Bullion, set to register a 4.6% rise this month, is on track for its fourth consecutive monthly gain.

Silver XAG= climbed to a fresh record high of $55.33 per ounce, up 3.5% for the session and 13% for the month.

Futures trading resumed around 1330 GMT, after an hours-long outage at CME Group CME.O halted trade on its currency platform and in futures spanning foreign exchange, commodities, Treasuries and stocks.

U.S. gold futures GCcv1 for February delivery rose 0.61% to $4,227.60 per ounce.

FED RATE IN FOCUS

"The expectation is that we're going to continue to have a slower economy going into 2026, and the Federal Reserve is very likely to cut rates, which is getting some investors back" into gold, said Bart Melek, head of commodity strategies at TD Securities.

Gold tends to do well in low-interest-rate environments.

Recent dovish remarks from Fed Governor Christopher Waller and New York Fed President John Williams, combined with softer U.S. economic data following the government shutdown, have strengthened expectations that the central bank will cut interest rates next month.

Traders see an 89% chance of a rate cut in December, up from 50% last week. FEDWATCH

Meanwhile, "the technical charts for silver have turned more bullish in the past week or so, and that's inviting the chart-based speculators to the long side of the silver market," said Jim Wyckoff, senior analyst at Kitco Metals.

Gold demand was subdued across major Asian markets this week, as high prices curbed retail buying even as India entered its wedding season. In China, the removal of a tax exemption on gold purchases dented consumer appetite.

Platinum XPT= gained 2.9% to $1,655.14, up 9.7% for the week, while palladium XPD= gained 5.6% to $1,519.37 and was set for a 10.7% weekly gain.