Gold prices on Friday marked their first settlement above $1,900 an ounce since April, finding support from a weekly decline in the U.S. dollar in the wake of data showing a slowdown in U.S. inflation. Prices for the most-active gold contract also reached a so-called “golden cross” on Friday. That happens when a short-term moving price average crosses above a long-term moving average, potentially indicating a change in sentiment toward the metal.
Price action
Gold futures for February delivery
GC00,
+1.32%
GCG23,
+1.32%
climbed $22.90, or 1.2%, to settle at $1,921.70 an ounce. Prices for a most-active contract ended 2.8% higher for the week and hadn’t settled above $1,900 since late April, according to Dow Jones Market Data.
March silver
SI00,
+1.71%
SIH23,
+1.71%
tacked on 37 cents, or 1.5%, to $24.372 per ounce, for a weekly rise of 1.6%.
Palladium for March
PAH23,
-0.08%
shed $3.60, or 0.2%, to $1,787.30 an ounce, losing 1.1% for the week, while platinum
PLJ23,
-0.77%
fell $11.80, or 1.1%, to $1,072.50 per ounce, posting a weekly decline of 2.9%.
March copper
HG00,
+0.52%
HGH23,
+0.52%
climbed by 2 cents, or 0.5%, to settle at $4.216 per pound, marking another finish at its highest since June. For the week, copper futures ended 7.8% higher.
Market drivers “Gold has easily cleared the $1,900 level, and hitting these big numbers helps attract investors to a trend,” Brien Lundin, editor of Gold Newsletter, told MarketWatch. Most-active gold futures posted a golden cross on Friday, Dow Jones Market Data show, with the 50-day moving average rising to $1,789.94, topping the 200-day moving average of $1,786.74. The last golden cross was seen on Feb. 11, 2022. A golden cross for gold “should attract more buying from technically-oriented traders,” said Lundin. Gold futures extended their gains from Thursday, when signs of cooling U.S. inflation with the December consumer-price index weighed on the dollar and helped to drive the yellow metal even higher. The ICE U.S. Dollar Index
DXY,
-0.05%,
a measure of the greenback’s strength against a basket of rivals, fell nearly 1% on Thursday in response to the CPI data. In Friday dealings, it was down nearly 0.1% to 102.192. The dollar downtrend has been helping gold, and that seems “likely to continue,” Lundin said. Thursday’s CPI data “confirmed that inflation is now on a downward trajectory, albeit still considerably higher than the Fed’s target of 2%,” said Rupert Rowling, market analyst at Kinesis Money, in market commentary. “As such, while the U.S. central bank is still likely to increase its benchmark rates when the committee meets at the end of this month, the expectation now is that the hike will only be 25 basis points.” Meanwhile, data released Friday showed a survey of U.S. consume …