London - Gold fell half a percent on
Friday and headed for its first weekly loss of the year, as a
two-day rise in the dollar prompted some investors to cash in
gains after the metal hit its highest since mid November earlier
this week.
The US currency pared some early gains but remained up 0.2
percent against a currency basket on Friday.
That pulled gold down from Tuesday's high of $1 219.59 an
ounce, and set it on track to end a four-week winning streak
with a 2 percent weekly loss.
Spot gold was down 0.4 percent at $1,184.11 an ounce
at 1035 GMT, while US gold futures for February
delivery were down $6.40 an ounce at $1,183.40.
"I think we've seen the high for the moment. We had a good
start to the year, but we've run out of steam around $1,220,"
ABN Amro analyst Georgette Boele said. "Overall, we're just
waiting for more positive news.
"On the data front, we have GDP data out of the US," she
added. "If these are a bit better, ...the dollar could rise."
Another leg higher in the US currency could spark fresh losses
in gold, she said.
The US economy is expected to have grown an annualised 2.2
percent in the last quarter, with a plunge in soybeans shipments
weighing on exports but buoyant consumer spending and rising
business investment underscoring its underlying momentum.
The dollar has climbed for two days as markets refocused on
Trump's pro-business policies and expectations the greenback
would gain from rising border tariffs, lifting it off this
week's seven-week lows and leaving it flat for the week.
The absence of Asian buyers, particularly in number one gold
consumer China, during the Lunar New Year holiday has also
weighed on the precious metal, dealers said.
"Most of Asia is already off for the holidays, which is a
good time for many to short the metal," Ronald Leung, chief
dealer at Lee Cheong Gold Dealers in Hong Kong, said.
"You can
see the bids are very weak, which shows the demand right now."
Silver was down 0.2 percent at $16.72 an ounce, while
platinum was 0.6 percent lower at $967.30.
Palladium was down 0.3 percent at $719.10, after
earlier hitting its lowest since January 4 at $708.97. The
autocatalyst metal has lost more than 8 percent so far this
week, its worst weekly performance since January 2016.