Your question is a bit vague. In some cultures, hand holding is not considered intimate, and you often see friends of both genders doing so. In others, such physical contact is not merely intimate, but downright lewd. You’re probably using an assumed context of North America or Europe, but even those answers may differ with regards to the when and how components. You’ll likely attract a better answer if you edit in some narrowing details.

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No. In various other cultures it’s a sign of friendship rather than romance such as South Africa (https://mg.co.za/article/2014-12-03-hold-hands-in-friendship-and-be-proud-to-be-an-african), the Middle East (https://www.cbsnews.com/news/abdullah-bush-stroll-strikes-nerve/), etc. Even in the past, some cultures in the western world viewed hand holding as a sign of friendship (https://www.nytimes.com/1985/11/10/magazine/about-men-making-contact.html).