Gold snaps Three-day Losing Streak on Friday

Gold futures snapped a three-day losing streak on Friday but the precious metal’s upside was capped by a stronger dollar and uncertainty over the timing of a Federal Reserve’s interest rate hike.

Gold for June delivery on Comex GCM5, +1.19% rose $11, or 0.9%, to settle at $1,204.60 an ounce for a weekly gain of 0.3%. May silver SIK5, +1.91% rose 21 cents, or 1.3%, to $16.38 an ounce, falling 1.9% in the week.

The ICE dollar index DXY, +0.38% a measure of the U.S. currency against a basket of six major rivals, is up 2% on the week, reflecting in part a 2.7% weekly drop by the euro EURUSD, -0.53% versus the U.S. unit.

“The dollar’s appreciation meant that gold in euros continued its upward trend, and this morning is trading at a nine-week high,” wrote analysts at Commerzbank in Frankfurt.

A stronger U.S. currency is typically seen as a negative for commodities priced in dollars, making them more expensive to users of other currencies. Analysts at Citibank, however, said gold has proved resilient to dollar strength since 2014. See: Gold bugs might have their day in 2016.

In other metals trade, July platinum PLN5, +1.48% rose $13.60, or 1.2%, to $1,170.60 an ounce, while June palladium PAM5, +1.95% gained $13.65, or 1.8%, to $776.05 an ounce.

May copper HGK5, +0.20% remained mostly unchanged at $2.73 a pound.

Source: MarketWatch