Gold up, heads for second weekly rise as dollar eases off session high

New York (Mar 20) - Gold rose on Friday, on track for a second weekly gain as U.S. Treasury yields dipped and dollar
eased off session highs.

Spot gold rose 0.3% to $1,742.14 per ounce at 3:11 p.m. EDT (1911 GMT), and was up 0.9% this week.

U.S. gold futures settled up 0.5% at $1,741.70. "The 10-year rates have dropped a little bit and the dollar
which was higher has also come off. We could see gold do a
little bit better if the rates situation start to stabilize,"
said ED&F Man Capital Markets analyst Edward Meir.

The U.S. 10-year yields eased after hovering near a more than one-year peak scaled in the last session. The
dollar retreated from the session peak, which was its
highest in more than a week.           

"The expected growth prospects, continuation of the relatively low interest rate environment does bring about some
fears of inflation," which is gold supportive, said David Meger, director of metals trading at High Ridge Futures.            

Gold is often seen as a hedge against inflation, but higher yields have threatened that status.     
    On the technical front, "in the near term gold faces
resistance around the $1,765/oz level," said Standard Chartered
analyst Suki Cooper.
 

Meanwhile, the first high-level U.S.-China meeting of the
Biden administration got off to a fiery start on Thursday, with
both sides leveling sharp rebukes of the others' policies.
           
"The fact that the talks did not go well could be a little
bit supportive... (but) right now it is mainly a war of words,"
Meir said, pointing to the tit-for-tat tariffs the two sides had
exchanged in the past.            

Gold is seen as a safe haven during times of political
uncertainties.

Elsewhere, palladium fell 1.9% to $2,630.59 per
ounce, but was up 11% for the week - its biggest since early
November.
    Platinum  dropped 0.9% to $1,196.51 an ounce, while
silver        rose 0.5% to $26.17.
 

Reuters