# Gold prices inch higher, poised to register first weekly gain in 3 weeks

Gold has moved up slightly, however, as the ICE U.S. Dollar Index
DXY,
+0.03%
moved away from the session’s highs, easing pressure on dollar-denominated gold.

The yellow metal began to move up toward the day’s highs about a half hour, as the dollar index pared gains after an index produced by the University of Michigan showed that the first two readings of consumer sentiment this month fell 3.5 points to 76.2 in early February, touching a six-month low.

Against that backdrop. Gold for April delivery 
GC00,
-0.09%

GCJ21,
-0.09%
rose $1.30, or nearly 0.1%, to $1,828.10 an ounce , following a 0.9% slide in the prior session. On Wednesday, prices notched their highest settlement since Feb. 1, FactSet data show.

Meanwhile, March silver
SI00,
+1.31%

SIH21,
+1.31%
was picking up 41 cents, or 1.5%, to trade around $27.46 an ounce after slipping 0.1% lower on Thursday.

For the week, gold is maintaining a gain of around 0.9%, which would be its first weekly climb since the week ended Jan. 22, according to FactSet data based on the most-active contract. Silver is headed for a weekly advance of about 1.7%.

U.S. Treasury yields have risen along with the dollar, “which is not great news for the buck-denominated metal,” wrote Fawad Razaqzada, market analyst at ThinkMarkets, in a research note.

The yield for the 10-year Treasury note BX:TMUBMUSD10Y was at around 1.18% Friday, holding around its highest level since March.

Razaqzada speculates that signs of a long haul in the economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, highlighted by stubbornly high claims for joblessness in America, and the Federal Reserve’s commitment to maintaining interest rates near 0%, are factors that should limit the decline for gold, if not eventually help it to overcome its near-term softness.

“Therefore, I think bond yields will likely struggle to rise further than they already have, and the U.S. dollar could remain under pressure. As a result, buck-denominated gold could be about to pop back higher,” he wrote.

However, Jeff Wright, chief investment officer at Wolfpack Capital, told MarketWatch that he sees a recovery in gold into the spring given prospects for another U.S. mega-stimulus package.

The Congressional Budget Office estimate for a $2.3 trillion deficit for 2021 “does not include any further stimulus, which is most likely going to be coming as well,” said Wright. So “gold will trend higher in coming weeks as the U.S. dollar slide continues in 2021.”

Rounding out action among Comex metals Friday, March copper
HGH21,
+0.29%
traded flat at $3.7715 a pound. Prices are up around 4% from the week-ago settlement, after touching their highest levels since 2013 earlier this week.

April platinum
PLJ21,
+1.05%
added 1% to $1,259.80 an ounce, trading up by more than 11% for the week after settling Thursday at their highest since 2015. March palladium
PAH21,
+1.24%
added 1.2% to $2,375 an ounce, up by 2% this week.

Read: Platinum, copper rally to multiyear highs as bets on economic recovery lift industrial metals