Gold steadied in a lackluster session as the U.S. dollar also flattened on Friday, but bullion stayed on track for its biggest weekly gain in nearly two months after the Federal Reserve sounded a cautious note on the pace of interest rate hikes. U.S. gold futures for December delivery settled down 0.2 percent at $1,341.70 per ounce.
Now that markets assume there won't be any Federal Reserve rate hikes until December at the earliest, gold traders will be on the lookout next week to see whether upcoming economic data leaves policymakers afraid to act once again as the year winds down.
Other factors that potentially could influence gold in the week ahead will be positioning or profit-taking ahead of the end of the quarter and month, plus the first debate between party nominees in the U.S. presidential election.
Wall Street and Main Street both look for gold to keep building on this week’s gains that occurred after the Federal Open Market Committee left U.S. interest rates unchanged.
Twenty analysts and traders took part in a weekly Wall Street survey. Twelve participants, or 60%, look for gold to be higher next week. Four each, or 20%, see prices either lower or sideways.
Meanwhile, 809 Main Street participants submitted votes in an online survey. A total of 596 respondents, or 74%, said they were bullish for the week ahead, while 150, or 19%, were bearish. The neutral votes totaled 63, or 8%.
Reference: KITCO, Reuters
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