Gold Set For Another Weekly Gain

Spot gold dipped 0.3 percent to $4,748.31 an ounce while U.S. gold futures for June delivery were down 1 percent at $4,772.17 an ounce.

The dollar was little changed but headed for its largest weekly drop since January on optimism surrounding U.S.-Iran diplomatic talks scheduled for this weekend.

However, tensions lingered around Israeli strikes across Lebanon and the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.

According to ship-tracking data, just seven ships passed through the strait in the past 24 hours against a normal daily flow of around 140.

Israel and Hezbollah exchanged strikes overnight as U.S. President Donald Trump criticized Iran’s handling of the Strait of Hormuz and warned Tehran against charging fees on oil tankers.

Trump said Washington, as the ‘winner’ of the war, has a ‘concept’ for charging a toll in the strategic waterway.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that his country was ready for direct negotiations with Lebanon, while insisting that Israel’s attacks across the country targeting Hezbollah would continue.

The IDF warned Hezbollah may expand rocket attacks beyond northern Israel, raising fears of a wider escalation.

Addressing the nation, Iran’s newly appointed Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, declared victory in the West Asia conflict and vowed that Iran will not let the U.S.-Israel go unpunished for their alleged acts of aggression.

Elsewhere, Ukraine and Russia have agreed to a rare 32-hour ceasefire for Orthodox Easter, with both sides announcing a temporary halt in fighting.

In economic releases, the March U.S. CPI report will be published later today, with economists expecting a 1 percent increase in the consumer price index for the month, the sharpest one-month advance since 2022, as energy costs spike amid the war with Iran.

Official data showed earlier in the day that China’s factory-gate prices in March turned positive for the first time in more than three years, driven by higher import costs linked to West Asia tensions. The consumer price index rose 1 percent year on year in March.

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