Gold futures lost ground Friday, with the yellow metal on track for a fourth straight weekly decline as a surging U.S. dollar outweighs its attractiveness as a hedge against inflation.
Gold for June delivery GC00, -0.66% GCM22, -0.66% fell $12.70, or 0.7%, to $1,811.90 an ounce on Comex, on track for a 3.8% weekly fall after its lowest finish on Thursday since Feb. 7. July silver SIN22, -0.50% fell 9.3 cents, or 0.4%, to $20.68 an ounce, headed for a 7.5% weekly tumble.
The ICE U.S. Dollar Index DXY, -0.09%, a measure of the currency against a basket of six major rivals, was off 0.1% but has jumped more than 1% on the week, hitting a level last seen 20 years ago. A stronger dollar is seen as a negative for commodities priced in the unit, making them more expensive to users of other currencies.
“The current decline in the price makes us keep a close eye on further developments. Yesterday, gold took a sharp plunge under the [200-day smooth moving average], which is often a bearish factor for the instrument. A consolidation of the week under $1,830 would reinforce that signal,” said Alex Kuptsikevich, senior market analyst at FxPro, in a note.
That would open the way for a drop of another 25% toward the $1,350 area, near the 2015-2018 highs, the analyst said, though there is scope to avoid the bearish scenario.
“If we see an uptick in buyers’ in the hours and days ahead, we could say that gold is in a correction,” Kuptsikevich said. “Potentially, a reversal to the upside from these levels could signal the start of a new wave of long-term growth, the first impulse of which was in 2018-2020, followed by a prolonged wide side trend. A potential bull target, in this case, could be the $2,500 area.”
In other metals trade, July copper HGN22, -0.72% fell 0.8% to $4.068 a pound.
July platinum PLN22, +0.63% rose 0.3% to $934.20 an ounce, while June palladium PAM22, +2.49% jumped 2.4% to $1,906 an ounce.
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