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Gold prices headed modestly lower on Friday, a day after posting the precious metal’s first gain in five sessions. A strengthening U.S. dollar was helping to drive some of the weakness in bullion even amid reports off a rise in political tensions in the South China Sea.
June gold
GCM21,
was off $4.70, or 0.3%, at $1,787.10 an ounce, following a 1.4% gain on Monday that helped the metal notch the highest settlement for a most-active contract since April 21, FactSet data show.
Moves for precious metals were taking place amid reports of military tensions between China and Taiwan, as well as Singapore’s tougher lockdown against the COVID pandemic.
The slide for gold prices also came as the dollar was gaining momentum, as measured by the ICE U.S. Dollar Index
DXY,
up 0.3% at 91.245. A stronger buck can undercut demand for assets priced in the currency.
Meanwhile, July silver
SIN21,
added 4 cents, or 0.1%, to trade around $26.98, following a 4.2% gain that drove gold’s sister metal to its biggest single-day point and percentage gain and highest finish since February.
