Investing.com - Gold prices traded slightly above break even on Friday, buoyed by a dip in the dollar, as weaker than expected economic data and fears that President Trump failed to secure enough Republican votes to push a key healthcare bill through congress weighed on the greenback.
The outcome of a vote on a bill to repeal and replace parts of Obamacare remained front and centre on Friday, as investors worried that a negative outcome would cast a doubt on Trump’s ability to push through more ‘market sensitive’ legislation such as a tax reform.
Gold for April delivery on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange gained $0.65 or 0.04%, to trade at $1,243.85 a troy ounce by 12:54 EDT. The yellow metal remained on track for a second weekly gain.
A slump in the dollar to near seven-week lows continued to lend support to dollar-denominated gold, as dollar weakness tends to increase demand for the yellow metal from holders of other currencies.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, lost 0.06% to 99.50 by 12:43 EDT, as a weaker than expected core durable goods print for February weighed on sentiment.
The Commerce Department said on Friday, orders for core durable goods, a category that excludes aircraft and military goods, rose 0.4% in February, which was less than economists’ forecast of a 0.5% rise.
Elsewhere, silver futures rose 0.76% to $17.727, a troy ounce while copper sank 0.62% to $2.628.
Platinum fell 0.08% to $966.60 while Natural Gas tacked on 0.62% to trade at $3.070.