Gold prices rose on Friday to trade just shy of a 6-week high earlier this week on expectations that the Federal Reserve is nearing the end of its interest rate-hiking cycle weighing on the US dollar. Price action Gold futures for April delivery GC00, +1.37% GCJ23, +1.37% rose $16.70, or 0.9%, to $1,940 an ounce on the Comex. Silver futures for May delivery SI00, +1.95% SIK23, +1.95% rose 30 cents, or 1.4%, to $21.99 an ounce. Platinum futures for April PAM23, +0.37% rose $23.10, or 2.3%, to $999.40 an ounce, while palladium futures for June PLN23, +2.01% rose $7.20, or 0.5%, to $1,416 an ounce. Copper futures for May HGK23, +1.09% rose 7 cents, or 1.9%, to $3.94 a pound. Market drivers Precious metals analysts said gold was benefiting from the view that the Federal Reserve could end the cycle of interest-rate hikes at its meeting next week and hike one final 25 basis points before standing pat. “Speculation is growing that the Fed will repeat next week what the ECB has done this week — hike as expected, then pause. Expectations that the Fed is nearing the end of its tightening cycle have hurt the US dollar,” said Rafi Boyadjian, chief investment analyst at XM. The ECB raised its policy rate by 50 basis points on Thursday but dropped its forward guidance, saying future hikes would depend on the state of economic data. Some said worries about the stability of US regional banks and Swiss lender Credit Suisse – which recently agreed to borrow 50 billion francs ($54 billion) from the Swiss National Bank – may be giving Europe’s biggest central bank pause. Hopes that the Fed’s policy interest rate may not rise above 5% weigh on the US dollar, which generally benefits gold. The ICE US dollar index DXY, -0.20% , a gauge of the dollar’s strength against a basket of rivals, was down 0.2% at 104.19.
