Gold futures were retreating from a five-week high Monday but were holding above the psychologically significant price at $1,800 in the final week of trading in 2021.
Contracts for gold for February delivery
GCG22,
-0.29%
GC00,
-0.29%
were trading $4.70, or 0.3%, lower on Monday, pulling back from their highest level since Nov. 19.
Trading on Comex was closed Friday in observance of Christmas last week, when gold put in a weekly advance of 0.4%. For the year, gold futures are on track to decline by 4.6%, FactSet data show.
Gold’s retreat to start the week comes as the dollar was gaining some traction higher, with few data and news to constrain the buck in the week following Christmas. Green backs were rising 0.2% on the session and have gained nearly 7% so far in 2021, as measured by the ICE U.S. Dollar Index
DXY,
+0.22%.
A stronger dollar can impede buying in commodities priced in the currency such as precious metals.
“Gold was unable to move past the $1,810 resistance, slipping to around $1,805/oz as the US dollar edged up,” wrote Raffi Boyadjian, lead investment analyst at broker XM, in a daily research note.
Meanwhile, March silver
SIH22,
-1.02%
was trading 0.9%, or 21 cents, lower at $22.73, on Monday, following a 1.8% weekly gain that left it at its highest price since Nov. 26. Gold’s sister metal, however, is headed for a year-to-date decline of nearly 14%.
