Investing.com - Gold futures traded flat on Friday, but remained on track for its biggest weekly win since mid-April, supported by a slide in the dollar amid ongoing U.S. political turmoil.
Gold for June delivery on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange gained $1.20 or 0.10%, to $1,254.03 a troy ounce by 13:51 EDT.
Investors appeared to take profits in gold in the midst of the precious metal’s best trading week since April – gold is on track to book at 2% weekly gain amid a tumultuous week in U.S. politics.
The Justice Department earlier this week appointed former FBI Director Robert Mueller as a special counsel to lead a federal investigation into allegations that President Trump collaborated with Russia during the 2016 election.
President Trump remained defiant in the wake of continued allegations that members of his campaign colluded with Russia during the U.S. presidential election.
Trump warned that the special counsel investigation “hurts our country” and labeled the probe “a witch hunt”.
Investors have piled into safe-haven assets such as gold, as they fear that the continued political saga in Washington could dampened President’s Trump ability to deliver on his economic agenda.
Rising doubts over Trump’s ability to deliver on this pro-growth economic agenda, pushed the dollar to a six-month low on Friday, which helped steady gold futures.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, fell by 0.68% to 97.11 by 13:12 EDT.
Dollar-denominated assets such as gold are sensitive to moves in the dollar – A dip in the dollar makes gold cheaper for holders of foreign currency and thus, increases demand.
Meanwhile, investors parsed through somewhat dovish comments from St. Louis Federal Reserve President, James Bullard, on Friday.
Bullard suggested the Fed’s policy path of two more rate hikes this year is “overly aggressive” relative to the pace of recent economic growth.
According to investing.com’s Fed rate monitor tool 70% of traders expect the Federal Reserve to hike its benchmark rate in June.
The dollar slump supported commodity prices across the board, as silver futures rose 0.91% to $16.822 a troy ounce while platinum added 0.59% to trade at $942.35.
Copper added 1.99% to $2.582, while natural gas rose by 2.48% to $3.261.