By Gina Lee
Investing.com – Gold was up on Friday morning in Asia and set for a weekly gain. A weakening dollar, alongside continuing concerns over high inflation, and U.S.-Russia tensions over Ukraine gave the safe-haven yellow metal a boost.,
Gold futures were up 0.24% to $1,808.35 by 11:34 PM ET (4:34 AM GMT). They hit the $1804.4 mark during the previous session as the weaker dollar and decreasing risk appetite in the equity markets helped counter pressure from a jump in U.S. Treasury yields. Gold has gained nearly 0.9% in the week to date.
The dollar, which normally moves inversely to gold, was down on Friday and was set for its biggest weekly drop since March 2020.
The U.S. Federal Reserve's inflation fight should be its top priority, the nominees to the central bank’s Board of Governors told lawmakers on Thursday. The nominees, Lisa Cook, Philip Jefferson, and Sarah Bloom Raskin, comments underlined support for a hawkish pivot in the Fed’s monetary policy.
Across the Atlantic, the European Central Bank hinted on Thursday that it could reverse its dovish stance and hike interest rates in 2022. The Bank of England hiked its interest rate to 0.5% as it handed down its policy decision on the same day.
In Asia Pacific, the Bank of Japan is due to hand down its policy decision in the following week.
However, the International Monetary Fund warned that it was "too early" to say if the world is facing a period of sustained inflation.
Meanwhile, U.S.-Russia tensions over Ukraine continue to escalate. Russia has formulated several options as an excuse to invade Ukraine, including the potential use of a propaganda video showing a staged attack, according to the U.S.
In other precious metals, silver edged up 0.2%, platinum inched up 0.1% and palladium was steady at $2,325.70 per ounce.