23.07.202118:31:00UTC+00Gold Futures Settle Modestly Lower As Equities, Dollar Rise

Gold futures settled lower on Friday and as upbeat corporate earnings and optimism about economic growth prompted investors to seek riskier assets such as equities.

Higher bond yields and a firm dollar weighed on the yellow metal.

The dollar ipndex rose to 93.02, and despite falling to around 92.85 subsequently recovered swiftly and was last seen at 92.91, up 0.1% from Thursday's close.

Gold futures for August ended down by $3.60 or about 0.2% at $1,801.80 an ounce.

Gold futures shed about 0.7% in the week, recording a weekly loss after four straight weeks of gains.

Silver futures for September ended lower by $0.148 or 0.6% at $25.233 an ounce. Silver futures shed about 2.2% in the week.

Copper futures for September settled at $4.4000 per pound, up $0.0625 or 1.4% from the previous close.

The dollar index has been gaining in strength this week, boosted by last month's hawkish shift from the Federal Reserve, burgeoning inflation and safe-haven demand driven by concerns over the Delta variant of COVID-19 which is now the dominant strain worldwide.

Traders now look ahead to the U.S. Federal Reserve meeting due next week. Fed officials are expected to accelerate deliberations over how to scale back their easy-money policies.