Investing.com - Metals prices were mostly lower Friday as a plunging euro pushed the dollar above a year high, rattling investor sentiment on dollar-dominated commodities. But gold steadied on safe-haven demand.
Gold futures for August delivery on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange fell by $0.90, or 0.07%, to $1,219.00 a troy ounce, but remained above an intraday low of $1,213.20.
The euro slumped, lifting the dollar, as worries mounted about European banks' exposure to the plunging Turkish lira after President Donald Trump doubled metals tariffs on the country. The increased trade tariffs against Turkey come at a time of growing doubts about the country's ability to repay its debt.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, rose by 0.80% to 96.22, to a more-than-one-year high.
A rising greenback, which usually spells trouble for dollar-denominated commodities such as gold, drew a muted downside reaction in the yellow metal, however. Safe-haven demand gathered pace amid fears that a stronger greenback would hit emerging-market economies. Those fears were largely played out in currency markets as a slew of emerging-market currencies slumped, including the South African rand and Hungarian forint.
As well as gold, safe-havens such as the yen, Treasuries and bunds traded sharply higher.
The impact of the swashbuckling greenback was evident in the wider metals market as copper and zinc prices tumbled.
Copper prices fell 0.81% to $2.74, while zinc prices fell 2.52% at 2,540.25.
Aluminium prices rose 0.87% to 2,092.50, while nickel Futures fell 0.41% to 13,812.50.
Silver futures fell 0.92% to $15.32 a troy ounce, while platinum futures lost 0.49% to $830.00