Investing.com – Gold prices were largely unchanged in Asian trade on Friday amid year-end trade, although they were set higher this week amid a cautious outlook following the US Federal Reserve's hawkish stance.
was largely unchanged at $2,633.40 per ounce, while February expiration was 0.2% lower at $2,649.91 an ounce at 00:20 ET (05:20 GMT).
Gold trading tends to see smaller volumes and lower prices towards the end of the year as many institutional traders and market participants close their books ahead of the holiday season.
In addition, at the end of the year, the release of economic data and key policy decisions are often few, reducing the factors that cause large price fluctuations.
The yellow metal was set to reach 0.3% for the week after losing more than 1% in the past. A strong dollar after the Fed's hawkish move last week continued to put downward pressure on bullion.
Gold under pressure from strong Dollar
It was slightly higher in Asian trade on Friday and hovered near a two-year high reached last week.
A strong dollar often weighs on gold prices as it makes the yellow metal more expensive for buyers using other currencies.
Gold prices fell sharply after the Fed's policy meeting indicated only two rate cuts in 2025, against earlier expectations of four.
Higher interest rates put downward pressure on gold making it more attractive compared to interest-bearing assets such as bonds
Other precious metals were also muted on Friday. they were unchanged at $954.50 an ounce, while they settled at $30.380 an ounce.
Gaining copper on scarce news, strong dollar gains
Among industrial metals, copper prices were higher after a Reuters report showed that China's leading copper smelters had set lower guidance for processing payments for the first quarter of 2025 than this quarter, indicating a continued lack of copper concentration.
At a meeting in Shanghai, representatives of the China Smelters Purchase Group agreed on new copper concentrate treatment prices and refining charges, set at $25 per ton and 2.5 cents per pound, down 28.6% from the fourth quarter guidance of $35 . ton and 3.5 cents per pound.
The red metal did not fully benefit from the news, as a stronger dollar weighed in.
Benchmark on the London Metal Exchange rose 0.5% to 9,008.50 tonnes, while February fell 0.1% to 4.1360 pounds.