Gold prices post worst week since January. The dollar gets part of the blame.

Core Insights - Gold has disappointed some investors this week despite a boost from worse-than-expected U.S. jobs data, with gold futures rising by $80, or 1.6%, to settle at $5,158.70 an ounce, but posting a weekly decline of 2.3%, the largest drop since the week ending January 30 [1] - Silver prices increased by $2.13, or 2.6%, to settle at $84.31 an ounce, but also experienced a significant weekly decline of 9.3%, marking its worst week since January 30 [2] - The U.S. economy lost 92,000 jobs in February, contrary to expectations of a gain of 50,000, which theoretically supports the case for Federal Reserve interest rate cuts, leading to a surge in gold prices [3] Economic and Market Conditions - Rising oil prices and inflationary pressures, exacerbated by geopolitical tensions from U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran, complicate hopes for interest rate cuts, with oil prices posting their strongest weekly percentage performance on record [4] - Safe-haven demand for precious metals has been somewhat mitigated by a stronger dollar and rising Treasury yields, with the dollar up 1.4% this week and the 10-year Treasury yield increasing to 4.12% from 3.96% [5] - Analysts note that the current market focus is primarily on energy markets due to geopolitical uncertainties, which has reduced the urgency for a general uncertainty hedge, impacting gold's performance as a safe-haven asset [6]