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Gold firms ahead of GDP report but on track for more than 1% weekly drop

Published: Apr 28, 2017 7:08 a.m. ET

Silver heads for nearly 3% weekly loss

Gold tried for back-to-back gains on Friday, moving opposite a mostly softer dollar ahead of U.S. GDP data that’s expected to show an early-year slowdown.

June gold GCM7, +0.19% rose $2.20, or 0.2%, to settle at $1,268.10. A three-day slide to start the week took the yellow metal to 2 1/2-week lows before a modest late-week rebound. Still, the contract was on track to record a 1.4% weekly loss.

July silver SIN7, +0.47% rose 8 cents, or 0.5%, to $17.415 an ounce. It’s headed for a roughly 2.8% weekly loss. Silver prices, which finished at their lowest level since mid-March earlier this week, may have already seen their peak for the year, turning several analysts bearish for at least the next few months.

A broad measure of the dollar’s performance, the ICE U.S. Dollar Index DXY, -0.32% fell 0.4%. Gold and the dollar typically move inversely as a higher dollar makes gold more expensive to investors using another currency.

All markets were tuned in to the morning release of the broadest measure of the U.S. economy. Gross domestic product is forecast to rise just 0.9% in the first quarter, according to a MarketWatch-compiled poll of economists. That’s a big drop from growth rates of 2.1% and 3.5% in the prior two quarters. The report hits at 8:30 a.m. Eastern.

Despite the soggy trading for gold this week, some analysts don’t expect a dramatic falloff given much political uncertainty in the world.

“We can continue to remain bullish on the commodity over the coming months, despite the Federal Reserve’s interest-rate hikes, as real interest rates will remain negative,” Mihir Kapadia, CEO of Sun Global Investments.

“The threat of populism in Europe, protectionism and trade tensions under Trump in the U.S., conflicts in the Middle East and the Korean peninsula will keep investors interested in gold,” he said.

Among other metals traded on Comex, July copper HGN7, +0.08% rose 0.1% to $2.5945 a pound and July platinum PLN7, +0.48% rose 0.5% to $953.80 an ounce, while June palladium PAM7, +0.96% tacked on 1% to $821.20 an ounce.

In exchange-traded funds, the SPDR Gold Trust GLD, -0.37% was little changed premarket, while the VanEck Vectors Gold Miners ETF GDX, -2.02% rose 1% and the iShares Silver Trust SLV, -1.21% declined 0.6%.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/gold-firms-ahead-of-gdp-report-but-on-track-for-more-than-1-weekly-drop-2017-04-28?siteid=rss&rss=1