Gold prices rose in light holiday trade early on Friday as the dollar weakened, while rising treasury yields checked the gains. Comex gold for February delivery closed up $10.30 to settle at $2,022.10 an ounce.
The December contract ended the after-hours session at around $2,003.70 an ounce, up 0.5% for the day and 1% for the week. The rise came as the dollar weakened, with hints of a slower-paced US economy convincing most traders in the light holiday session that the Federal Reserve is done with raising interest rates again.
The start of a four-day ceasefire and hostage exchange in the fighting between Hamas and Israel had little impact on the gold market. The ICE dollar index was last seen down 0.56 points to 103.36, and the Aussie dollar ended the week around 65.90 US cents, up 0.88% for the day and 1.1% for the week.
Gold traders ignored a slight increase in bond yields. The 10-year Treasury ended at 4.47%, up 6 points for the day and three points for the week. The US two-year T-note ended at just under 5% at 4.959%, up 6.4 basis points for the day and 5.4 points for the week.
In other metals, Comex copper rose to $3.79 a pound, the highest since early September. Iron ore prices ended above $130 a tonne on Friday, a slight rise from the previous week when the Chinese government tried to lower prices by reminding traders, producers, and investors about the evils of hoarding and speculation in the iron ore market.
The SGX price for 62% Fe fines delivered to northern China finished at $133.85 a tonne, up from $128.51 a tonne the previous Friday. Additionally, the price of thermal coal on the Newcastle ICE market rose 1.4% over the week to $129.40 a tonne for January delivery.
