Gold prices were flat Friday amid choppy trade as a modest rebound in the U.S. dollar was putting pressure on the yellow metal after the minutes of the Federal Reserve’s last meeting, released on Wednesday, helped send prices of precious metals higher.
Price action
-
Gold prices for December delivery
GC00,
+0.21% GCZ22,
+0.21%
advanced $1, or 0.1%, to $1,746 per ounce on Comex. -
Silver prices for December
SIZ22,
-0.41%
delivery retreated 19 cents, or 0.9%, to $21.18 per ounce. -
Palladium prices for December
PAZ22,
-3.51%
slumped $38.90, or 2.1%, to $1,837 per ounce, while platinum prices for January delivery
PLF23,
-0.66%
fell $13.50, or 1.4%, to $982 per ounce. -
December copper prices climbed
HGZ22,
+0.14%
3 cents, or 0.9%, to $3.65 per pound.
What’s happening
Gold initially benefited from the Fed minutes’ message that members of the Fed’s policy-setting committee were generally leaning toward smaller interest-rate hikes going forward.
However, on Friday, a slightly stronger dollar was helping to take some of the wind out of gold’s sails, precious metals analysts said, while subdued trading volume helped exaggerate the greenback’s impact.
“Gold is marginally lower today but has been quite choppy throughout the session, and broadly lacked any real direction. We could be seeing a little profit-taking as the dollar edges higher following the relief rally that followed the Fed minutes,” said Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at OANDA.
The ICE U.S. Dollar Index
DXY,
a gauge of the dollar’s strength against a basket of rivals, was rose 0.2% to 106.30.
