Gold prices on Friday declined slightly against a strengthening dollar. However, geopolitical risks continue to support demand for safe assets.
On the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, price of gold futures for April delivery fell 0.28% to $ 1238.05, slightly moving away from Thursday’s one-week high at $ 1240.70.
At the close of the Thursday session, contracts for April delivery rose 0.69% to $ 1241.60 per troy ounce.
Futures will likely to find support at $ 1217.30, the Wednesday low, and resistance at the high of February – 1243.50 $ 9.
The dollar found support on Friday amid recent positive economic data and optimistic statements by Fed chief Janet Yellen.
The US Labor Department reported that the number of initial claims for unemployment benefits in the US has increased by 5000 last week. The total number of applications now stands at 239,000. The analysts expected an increase by 11000 to 245,000 applications.
The number of building permits issued in the US rose in January by 4.6% to 1.285 million, after the December value at 1.210 million.
The dollar strengthened significantly earlier after Janet Yellen’s Tuesday report before the US Senate Banking Committee, in which she pointed out that the US central bank will raise the interest rates during one of the following of meetings of the FOMC.
Yellen said that waiting too long before raising interest rates would be unreasonable under the condition of economic growth and increasing inflation.
The US Dollar Index, which shows the value of the dollar against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, rose 0.09 to 100.54, recovering after a 7-week low of 100.40.
March silver futures fell 0.15% to $ 18.047 an ounce, while March copper futures slipped by 0.50% to $ 2.705 per pound.