By Barani Krishnan
Investing.com - Gold ended the week uneventfully despite coming precariously close to the $1,800 level that would have been key for it to recapture last year’s highs.
Benchmark gold futures on New York’s Comex hit a nine-week high of $1,796.15 an ounce in Friday’s early trade, coming less than $4 from cracking the $1,800 resistance.
The metal, however, could not sustain the upward momentum and settled the session down $4.20, or 0.2%, at $1,777.80 an ounce, extending the 0.6% drop seen on Thursday.
The combined two-day loss left Comex gold’s front-month down 0.1% on the week as it finished below last Friday’s close of $1,779.
The spot price of gold rose to as high as $1,795.94, before trading at just above $1,776 by 3:45 PM ET (19:45 GMT). Moves in spot gold are integral to fund managers, who sometimes rely more on it than futures for direction.
It was a crushing disappointment for longs in the yellow metal who had been counting on a more meaningful advance after repeatedly approaching the $1,800 resistance this week. The last time Comex gold traded above that level was on Feb. 25.
With the Federal Reserve’s monthly meeting due next Wednesday, analysts said gold prices were likely to drift without substantive guidance from the U.S. central bank.
“Dampening demand for safe-havens has capped the rally in gold,” said Ed Moya, analyst at New York’s OANDA. “Gold prices will likely consolidate leading up to the Fed between $1,760 and $1,800.”