Gold prices are flat on the final trading session before Christmas. The yellow metal is on track for yet another weekly loss as it has been battered since November 8. Traders are now wondering if gold can generate any momentum heading into 2017.
February gold futures rose $1.60, or 0.14%, to $1,132.30 per ounce at 13:00 GMT on Friday. Gold shed 0.5% of its value this week and is headed for its seventh consecutive weekly loss. The precious metal lost a majority of the gains it made this year in just the last seven weeks.
Silver prices are also flat. February silver futures dipped $0.01, or 0.10%, to $15.85 an ounce.
Despite the massive losses over the past month, gold and silver are set for their first yearly gains since 2012. Gold is poised for a 7% gain, while silver will end the year up roughly 15%. But the precious metals’ advances were sharply higher prior to US Election Day with increases of 20% and 40%, respectively, because of political uncertainty, volatility in the global financial markets, and monetary easing by the world’s central banks.
Gold’s tepid gains to end the trading week stem from the US dollar retreating due to lower trading volumes. The greenback has surged to a 14-year high, and has skyrocketed more than 3% this year. The US dollar has been climbing since Donald Trump‘s upset victory as traders are betting that the
This is bad news for precious metals because a strengthening US dollar makes commodities like gold and silver more expensive for foreign investors.
With the Federal Reserve poised to raise interest rates three times in 2017, traders are even more skeptical for gold heading into the new year. Gold is sensitive to a
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