Investing.com - It's back to same-old-same-old with gold.
After a streak of 2019 highs above $1,300, the yellow metal is in an all-too-familiar range-bound pattern last seen in December.
And analysts expect the trend, which is in sync with the sideways action in the dollar, to continue until the next cause for alarm in the financial and geopolitical world.
"The price of gold continues its slow move to the downside," Walter Pehowich, industry commentator and executive vice-president at Dillon Gage Metals in Addison, Texas, said in his daily precious metals note Wednesday. "This price action coincides with the slow movement to the upside in the Dollar Index, has experienced virtually no volatility in recent days due to the lack of any significant news stories."
"This kind of 'watch grass grow' environment is keeping investors in both the equity markets, as well as precious metals, with their hands in their pockets," Pehowich added.
The spot gold contract, reflective of trades in physical bullion, was down $5.52, or 0.4%, at $1,309.78 per ouncce by 1:49 PM ET (19:49 GMT).
In futures trading, gold's benchmark April contract on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange settled down $4.80, or 0.4%, at $1,314.40 per ounce.
The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six currencies and serves as a contrarian trade to gold, was up 0.3% at 96.13.
ABN Amro (AS:ABNd) analyst Georgette Boele expects gold to remain range bound between $1,310 and $1,320 this week, Reuters reported, adding that Capital Economics analyst Ross Strachan also foresaw consolidation above $1,300.
Gold futures hit highs above $1,300 for five consecutive sessions through Jan. 31, peaking at $1,331.10, as investors raised their stakes in the yellow metal amid Fed reassurances that it will be patient with rate hikes.
Dallas Fed President Robert Kaplan said on Wednesday rates should be left unchanged until the U.S. economic outlook was clearer.
Investors will looking out for further messaging on rates and the economy from Fed Chairman Jerome Powell, who will be speaking in Washington D.C. at 7:00 PM ET.
Others Fed officials lined up to speak this week include the central bank's vice chairman Richard Clarida, Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester, St. Louis Fed President James Bullard and Fed Governor Randal Quarles.
In Tuesday's overnight trading, gold found some support from President Donald Trump's State of the Union address, where the president raised the prospect of another government shutdown if the Democrat-controlled House continues denying funding for his border wall with Mexico.
Trump also said a trade deal with China, which he has threatened to slap hundreds of billions of dollars of new tariffs on after March 1, was possible if Beijing resorted to "real structural change".
Palladium remained the world's most valuable traded metal, with its spot price trading at $1,381 per ounce, down $2.30, or 0.2% on the day.
Spot palladium first traded above gold earlier this month when it hit record highs of $1,440.35 on Jan. 17. Gold's own peaks have been higher in the past, rallying above $1,900 in 2011.
Trades in other Comex metals as of 1:49 PM ET (19:49 GMT):
Palladium futures up $8.35, or 0.6%, at $1,349.55 per ounce.
Silver futures down 13.9 cents, or 0.9%, at $15.70 per ounce.
Platinum futures down $7.70, or 0.9%, at $812.20 per ounce.
Copper futures up 1.5 cents, or 0.5%, at $2.83 per pound.