Gold Futures Settle Higher Again

Gold prices surged higher on Friday, extending gains to a third straight session, as the dollar weakened against major currencies and hopes about a resolution to the U.S.-China trade disputes faded again.

According to reports, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer has denied that he had told earlier that another round of tariffs on Chinese imports had been put on hold in the wake of resumption of talks between U.S. and China. The official is reported to have said on Thursday that there were no changes in plan for the tariffs and that any reports to the contrary were incorrect.

With remarks by Fed Vice Chairman Richard Clarida that interest rates were currently near neutral levels suggesting a likely pause in monetary tightening sometime soon, the dollar turned weak. A day earlier, at Dallas, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell warned of slowing demand overseas and fading fiscal stimulus in U.S., and also spoke about the lagged economic impact of past rate increases.

The dollar index dropped to around 96.30, losing about 0.5%, after having advanced to 96.93 earlier in the day.

Gold futures for December ended up $8.00, or 0.7%, at $1,223.00 an ounce. On Thursday, gold futures ended up $4.90, or 0.4%, at $1,215.00 an ounce.

For the week, gold futures gained about 1.2%.

Silver futures for December were up by about 3%, at $4.370 an ounce, while Copper futures for December were up 1.5%, at 2.788 per pound.

In economic news, industrial production in the U.S. increased marginally in October, falling short of expectations, according to a report released by the Federal Reserve on Friday. The report said industrial output inched up by 0.1 percent in October after rising by a downwardly revised 0.2 percent in September.

Economists had expected industrial production to rise by 0.2 percent compared to the 0.3 percent increase originally reported for the previous month.

A 0.3 percent increase in manufacturing output outweighed declines in other sectors, the report from the Federal Reserve said. Mining output declined by 0.3 percent in October after edging down by 0.1 percent in September. Utilities output also dropped by 0.5 percent in October after a 0.1 percent drop in September.