Gold: Market Settlements and Activity Gold neared a nine-month...

Gold: Market Settlements and Activity

Gold neared a nine-month high on Friday, approaching the key $1,950-an-ounce resistance, as softening U.S. inflation and rate hike expectations boosted contrarian safe-haven trades.

Gold for February delivery on New York’s Comex did a final trade at $1,923.35 an ounce, after officially settling the session at $1,921.70 - up $22.90, or 1.2%, on the day. Its session high of $1,925.25 was the loftiest for a front-month contract in Comex gold since the April 25 peak of $1,935.50.

U.S. gold futures contracts have risen 5% since 2023 began, extending its near 4% gain from December and 7% from November.

The spot price of gold, more closely followed than futures by some traders, settled at $1,920.13 - up $23.22, or 1.2%, on the day. Spot gold’s intraday peak was $1,921.97- also the highest since April 25.

Gold has rallied over the past three months as receding inflation drove bond yields and the dollar lower on expectations that the Federal Reserve will be a lot less aggressive with rate hikes this year versus 2022, and might even wrap its monetary tightening well before the end of 2023.

“Gold prices are rising as Wall Street grows confident that the Fed is almost done with raising rates,” said Ed Moya, analyst at online trading platform OANDA. “Non-interest bearing gold is loving the slide in bond yields and that could continue as earnings come in softer-than-expected.”

The yield on the benchmark 10-Year U.S. Treasury note was at 3.49% on Friday, versus the October peak of 4.34%. The Dollar Index, which pits the greenback against six competing major currencies that include the euro and yen, steadied at just above 102, after tumbling from September’s highs of above 107.