By Arpan Varghese

Feb 15 – Gold jumped to a two-week high on Friday after weak U.S. economic data boosted expectations the U.S. Federal Reserve would hold pat on monetary tightening, while palladium matched an all-time high on a prolonged deficit.

Spot gold was up 0.4 percent at $1,317.36 an ounce at 12:47 p.m. EST (1747 GMT), having touched its highest since Feb. 1 at $1,319.81.

U.S. gold futures rose 0.5 percent to $1,320.60.

While gold is on track for a small weekly gain, it was rangebound for most of the week, with gains on Friday stemmed by a firmer dollar and a rebound in stocks.

Read more via: https://af.reuters.com/article/metalsNews/idAFL3N20A4DY