Gold Price News: US Dollar Strength Puts Gold Under Pressure

Gold prices eased lower on Friday with US dollar strength putting the precious metal under pressure at the end of the week.

Prices fell as low as $3,156 an ounce on Friday, down from around $3,244 an ounce in late trades on Thursday.

The US dollar rose sharply against other major currencies on Friday, which naturally put downward pressure on dollar-denominated gold prices due to their inverse correlation.

Higher-risk assets re-take the limelight

Gold’s losses on Friday reversed the previous day’s gains, and left the metal to close out the week with losses of around 4.6%.

The general direction for gold has been cautiously bearish over the last few days as a more tempered US stance on trade tariffs triggered investor interest in higher-risk assets such as equities, to some degree taking the wind out of gold’s sails.

That said, several uncertainties are still present that could yet support gold. These include uncertainty over the prospects for peace between Russia and Ukraine, worries over the final state of US tariffs on imports in the months ahead, and monetary policy changes by the US Fed over the summer.

Technical analysis

On the technical charts, gold struggled to move convincingly above ascending oblique major resistance at $3,237 an ounce on Friday and this may continue to provide a constraint on prices. Should the price move lower from here, gold may benefit from ascending oblique minor support at $3,088 an ounce. Prices have been in a downward-sloping trend channel since the all-time highs of just over $3,500 an ounce on April 22, and the market will be keen to see where downside support kicks in if this bearish channel continues to hold.