Published: 2018.04.16. Gold / Silver / Copper Prices - Weekly Outlook: April 16 - 20

Gold / Silver / Copper Prices - Weekly Outlook: April 16 - 20 - Preview

Concerns over geopolitical tensions and an ongoing trade spat between China and the U.S. may support safe haven demand for gold this week but the precious metal will remain vulnerable to any gains in the dollar in the face of expectations for higher U.S. interest rates.

Gold futures for June delivery settled up 0.44% at $1,347.80 on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. For the week, prices were up 0.88%.

Gold prices hit highs of $1,369.40 on Wednesday, the strongest level of the year, propelled higher by concerns over a simmering U.S.-China trade spat and heightened tensions between the U.S. and Russia.

On Thursday the precious metal reversed these gains as cooling tensions over Syria and hawkish sounding Federal Reserve minutes weighed.

The minutes of the Fed’s March meeting showed that officials believe that the economy will continue to firm and that inflation will rise towards their 2% target in the coming months.

Some investors believed the minutes bolstered the case for a faster pace of monetary tightening by the Fed, a potentially bearish development for gold, which struggles to compete with yield-bearing assets when rates rise.

The dollar was little changed late Friday, with the U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a basket of six major currencies, steady at 89.51.

A stable dollar has checked gold’s gains in recent weeks, as a stronger dollar makes gold and other dollar-denominated commodities more expensive for holders of other currencies.