Investing.com – Gold prices fell on Friday as the dollar strengthened.
Gold futures for August delivery on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange were down $3.6, or 0.28%, to $1,304.70 a troy ounce by 1:15 PM ET (05:15 AM GMT).
There was some support in gold prices earlier in the day after the European Central Bank (ECB) policy announcement struck a decidedly dovish tone, as expected.
The ECB also announced it would halt bond purchases and would phase out the economic stimulus by the end of the year. The central bank also said it would keep its interest rates unchanged at least through the summer of 2019.
Meanwhile, the U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a basket of six major currencies, was up 0.05% to 94.98 on Friday.
Dollar-denominated assets such as gold are sensitive to moves in the dollar – a gain in the dollar makes gold more expensive for holders of foreign currency and thus decreases demand for the precious metal.
Elsewhere, U.S.-China trade tensions continued to escalate, as U.S. President Donald Trump announced a decision to impose “pretty significant” tariffs on $50 billion of Chinese goods and will reveal the updated list on Friday. When Trump will activate the tariffs remains unclear, although the White House said the date would be set shortly after the release of the list.
China had indicated that the imposition of tariffs would halt broader bilateral trade talks.
In other precious metal trade, Silver Futures shed 0.33% to $17.205 a troy ounce, Platinum Futures lost 0.1% to $905.50 an ounce and Copper Futures climbed 0.25% to $3.209.