Gold Ends Higher Despite A Strong Dollar; Gains 0.3% For Week

(RTTNews) - Gold futures snapped a three-day loss to end higher on Friday, even as the dollar trended higher against some select currencies, with investors continuing to mull over the U.S. Federal Reserve's uncertainty on the timing of an interest rate hike at its March policy meet.

For the week, gold futures gained about 0.3 percent.

Investors now await some key economic data next week that could influence the Fed's decision on interest rate hikes.

The minutes from the most recent Fed meeting on Wednesday showed Fed officials were divided about when to begin raising interest rates, with some calling for a rate hike in June while others have suggested waiting until next year.

Meanwhile, a Labor Department report showed U.S. import prices to have declined for an eighth consecutive month in March, while domestic imports dropped 10.5 percent, the steepest decline since 2009.

Gold for June delivery, the most actively traded contract, gained $11.00 or 0.9 percent to settle at $1,204.60 an ounce, on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange on Friday.

On Thursday, gold futures dropped to $1,193.60 an ounce, down $9.50 or 0.8 percent, as the dollar strengthened and investors opting for the riskier equity assets after the U.S. Federal Reserve remained divided over the timing of an interest rate hike at its March policy meet.

Gold for June delivery scaled an intraday high of $1,210.60 and a low of $1,192.90 an ounce.

Holdings of SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, inched up to 736.04 tons on Friday, from its previous close of 733.06 tons.

The dollar index, which tracks the U.S. unit against six major currencies, traded at 99.43 on Friday, up from its previous close of 98.97 on Thursday in late North American trade. The dollar scaled a high of 99.69 intraday and a low of 98.84.

The euro trended lower against the dollar at $1.0591 on Friday, as compared to its previous close of $1.0659 in North American trade late Thursday. The euro scaled a high of $1.0686 intraday and a low of $1.0569.

On the economic front, a Labor Department report on Friday showed U.S. import prices to have moved back to the downside in March, after reporting a modest rebound in prices the previous month. Import prices dipped by 0.3 percent in March after edging up by a revised 0.2 percent in February. The pullback in prices matched economist estimates.

Meanwhile, the report also said U.S. export prices inched up by 0.1 percent in March following a revised 0.2 percent drop in February. Economists expected export prices to slip by 0.2 percent.

Chinese inflation remained unchanged in March and producer prices continued to remain in negative territory, giving room for the central bank to adjust its policy to spur economic growth. The consumer price index gained 1.4 percent in March from last year, the same rate of growth as seen in the prior month, the National Bureau of Statistics reported Friday. Inflation was forecast to ease marginally to 1.3 percent.

French industrial production and manufacturing output remained unchanged in February, statistical office Insee reported Friday. Industrial production showed nil growth in February after rising 0.3 percent in January and 1.5 percent in December. Economists had forecast output to fall 0.1 percent.

U.K. industrial production logged a marginal growth in February as the expansion in manufacturing was largely offset by a decline in oil and gas output, data from the Office for National Statistics revealed Friday. Industrial output rose 0.1 percent on a monthly basis in February, offsetting January's 0.1 percent fall. This was the first rise in three months but the rate was weaker than a 0.3 percent growth forecast by economists.