Gold Price News: Gold Holds Above $2,700 Mark

Gold prices were marginally lower on Friday, but managed to hold onto most of Thursday’s gains, leaving prices just shy of a 10-week high.

Prices moved in a relatively narrow band of $2,703 to $2,721 an ounce on Friday, compared with around $2,715 an ounce in late trades on Thursday. The gains seen earlier in the week took gold prices to their highest since early November.

Weaker US dollar supports gold

The US dollar weakened against other major currencies at the start of the week, supporting dollar-denominated gold prices as it makes the precious metal cheaper for buyers in other currencies.

However, this was balanced against signs that a tentative ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas in Gaza could soon be formally approved. This was approved over the weekend and took effect on Sunday, bringing an end to 15 months of hostilities. The conflict has been one of two major flashpoints that heightened the geopolitical risk environment, driving increased interest in safe-haven assets like precious metals.

Market positioning

Meanwhile, gold-backed ETFs saw net inflows of 6 tonnes in the week to January 10^th, compared with net outflows of 3.2 tonnes the previous week, according to World Gold Council data: Gold ETF: Stock, Holdings and Flows. Meanwhile, net long positions on the Comex increased to 865.5 tonnes in the week to January 14^th, compared with 791.06 tonnes the previous week, the figures showed. This was still some way off their 2024 peak of 976 tonnes in the week to September 24^th, 2024.

Upcoming data and events

Looking ahead, Monday will attract plenty of attention as US President-elect Donald Trump is due to be inaugurated, with much focus on the new administration’s trade policies and their effects on the economy and monetary policy. Beyond that, Tuesday will bring Euro Area economic sentiment figures for January, followed by Canadian inflation data for December.