Yahoo Finance Gold Prices Hold Near 1-1/2 Week Lows on Dollar Strength
Investing.com - Gold prices were hovering near one and-a-half-week lows on Friday, as expectations for multiple U.S. rate hikes this year continued to lend broad support to the greenback.
Comex gold futures were steady at $1,331.9 a troy ounce by 08:20 a.m. ET (12:20 GMT), just off Thursday's one-and-a-half week lows of $1,322.90.
The greenback remained broadly supported after the minutes of the Federal Reserve's January policy meeting showed that central bank officials see increased economic growth and rising inflation as justification to continue to raise interest rates gradually.
The dollar had been pressured lower recently by expectations for a faster pace of monetary tightening outside the U.S., which would lessen the divergence between the Fed and other central banks.
The U.S. currency was also boosted after the Labor Department reported on Thursday that initial jobless claims fell by 7,000 to 222,000 last week, compared to expectations for jobless claims to total 230,000.
Gold is sensitive to moves in both U.S. rates and the dollar. A stronger dollar makes gold more expensive for holders of foreign currency, while a rise in U.S. rates lifts the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding assets such as bullion.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was up 0.21% at 89.84, just off a one-and-a-half week high of 90.17 hit on Thursday.
Elsewhere on the Comex, silver futures slipped 0.10% to $16.57 a troy ounce.
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