Gold futures on Friday extended a climb toward its highest level in eight weeks and its best weekly gain in four months, as weakness in the dollar and demand for bullion heading into 2020 underpin prices.
Gold for February delivery GCG20, +0.05% on Comex inched up 60 cents, or 0.1%, at $1,515.10 an ounce, extending its climb toward the highest level since Oct. 31, according to FactSet data.
March silver SIH20, -0.19%, meanwhile, shed 7 cents, or 0.4%, to trade at $17.915 an ounce, a day after marking its highest settlement since Nov. 4, just below a psychologically important level at $18.
For the week, gold is on pace to rise 2.37%, which would represent its sharpest weekly climb since early August, while silver has gained nearly 4% thus far, also putting it on pace for its best week since August.
“Gold has passed the phase one trade deal test with flying colors. So that is at minimum mildly bullish for gold,” wrote Stephen Innes, chief Asia market strategist at AxiTrader in a daily note.
The yellow metal has been gaining partly on the back of upbeat signs from the Sino-American trade war, with the U.S. and China moving toward an apparent partial resolution — a potential positive sign for gold because China represents one of the biggest buyers of precious metals.
Weakness in the U.S. dollar also has helped to bolster bullion prices. As measured by the ICE U.S. Dollar Index DXY, -0.40%, was down 0.4% on Friday, with a decline of 0.6% over the past week. A softer dollar can help to fuel gold buying, which can draw buyers using other currencies when the buck weakens.
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