WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Gold prices climbed higher on Friday on safe-haven appeal after global stocks turned weak amid rising inflation and prospect of global central banks raising interest rates sharply in the foreseeable future.
Gold prices moved up also due to concerns about the surge in the Omicron variant of the coronvirus, and the resultant imposition of strict restrictions to curb the spread of the infection might slow down the pace of global economic recovery.
The dollar's rebound from recent losses limited gold's uptick. The dollar index is up nearly 0.5% at 96.50.
Gold futures for February ended higher by $6.70 or about 0.4% at $1,804.90 an ounce, settling above $1,800 for the first time in almost four weeks. Gold futures gained more than 1% in the week.
Silver futures for March ended up by $0.048 at $22.533 an ounce, while Copper futures for March settled at $4.2925 per pound, down $0.0095 from the previous close.
The Bank of England lifted its key interest rate unexpectedly on Thursday, while the European Central Bank announced an end to net purchases under the pandemic emergency purchasing program in March.
On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve doubled the pace of tapering of bond purchases and signaled three interest rate hikes in 2022.
Elsewhere, the Bank of Japan decided to scale back its pandemic related funding measures as the economy is set to recover amid waning supply-side constraints.
Meanwhile, Dr. Anthony Fauci, President Joe Biden's top medical advisor, said that the U.S. is experiencing a resurgence of the delta variant and that Omicron will become the dominant Covid-19 variant in the United States within a few weeks.
Fauci also said that some of the rapid at-home Covid-19 tests available in the U.S. may not accurately pick up the new super mutant Omicron variant.
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