Gold up on weaker dollar, but heads for ‎small weekly gain

Gold rose today, Friday, supported by a decline in the dollar, and is heading for small weekly gains, despite continuing concerns that the Federal Reserve (the US central bank) will continue the path of aggressive interest rate hikes, which affected sentiment.

And according to “Reuters”, gold in spot transactions rose 0.7% to $ 1719.19 an ounce by 0550 GMT. During the week, prices rose 0.5%, after three consecutive weekly declines.

And US gold futures rose 0.6% to $ 1729.70

The dollar index fell 0.7%, after touching its lowest level in one week, which made gold priced in dollars less expensive for holders of other currencies.

The US central bank is expected to raise interest rates by another 75 basis points on September 21.

Higher interest rates increase the opportunity cost of owning the yellow metal, which does not generate returns, and also supports the dollar.

The European Central Bank raised key interest rates by 75 basis points on Thursday.

As for other precious metals, silver rose in spot transactions 1.11% to $18.7763 an ounce, and increased by four percent during the week.

Platinum rose 0.2% to $ 881.16 and is heading for the largest weekly gain since June

As for palladium, it fell 1.2% to $ 2112.78, but it is heading to record its first weekly gain in four weeks.