(Reuters) – Gold eased on Friday as the dollar edged higher, denting bullion’s appeal and setting it on track for a second weekly decline, while lingering concerns over the path to recovery from the coronavirus limited losses.
Spot gold was down 0.5% to $1,933.85 per ounce at 0949 GMT, while U.S. gold futures eased 0.3% to $1,940.00 per ounce.
For the week, gold is down about 0.5%, having slumped more than 3% earlier this week.
“We are going to be range-bound for the next number of days or weeks until something happens either on the U.S stimulus front or if the U.S.-China tensions take a very positive or negative turn,” said David Madden, market analyst at CMC Markets UK.
“The move higher on the U.S. dollar has put pressure on gold,” Madden added.
Against a basket of currencies, the dollar gained 0.3%, making gold more expensive for holders of other currencies.
Bullion’s fall came despite data signalling the euro zone’s economic recovery from its deepest downturn on record stalled this month.
Data also showed that activity, notably in its service sector, slowed in Germany this month.
Adding to doubts over a swift economic rebound, U.S. Federal Reserve officials on Wednesday warned a recovery faced a highly uncertain path.
“Gold has established an important support level for itself, which also lies close to its old record high from 2011,” Commerzbank analyst wrote in a note.
“Many stop-loss orders are likely to be placed below it, so it will be important to maintain this support area. Otherwise the correction could drag on significantly longer.”
Elsewhere, silver fell 0.7% to $27.04 per ounce, but was poised for a weekly rise of 2.3%.
Platinum fell 1.2%, to $906.78 per ounce, while palladium was down 0.6% at $2,167.60 per ounce.
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