© Reuters.
By Gina Lee
Investing.com – Gold was up on Friday morning in Asia but strengthening U.S. Treasury yields put bullion on course for its first weekly loss in three.
were up 0.26% to $1,953.30 by 12:26 AM ET (1:35 AM GMT).
“The outlook for gold is subdued as rising rates obviously weigh, but until we break the trading range of between $1,930 to under $2,000 in a convincing manner … we really don’t have much of a direction for gold,” Tiger Brokers, Australia chief strategy officer Michael McCarthy told Reuters.
Benchmark also continued an upward trend as the set a hawkish tone on tightening policy. This drove bets that the central bank will hike interest rates aggressively to curb inflation.
A stronger U.S. dollar could also pressure gold, while on the other hand, the geopolitical uncertainty remains a support and the gold price is stuck in the middle of those two conflicting currents, said McCarthy. The , which usually moves inversely to gold, inched down on Wednesday.
Gold is down about 1.3% for the week so far. The yellow metal almost hit the $2,000 mark on Monday over safe-haven demand and increasing worries over inflation but has since retreated to hit a two-week low during the previous session.
“With stagflation moving from a potential tail risk to reality, investors worldwide are turning to gold as a keen portfolio diversifier,” SPI Asset Management managing partner Stephen Innes said in a note.
In other precious metals, fell 0.6% and edged down 0.2%, with both poised for weekly falls. Meanwhile, rose 0.4%.
