Gold is heading to record its largest weekly loss in a month and a half

Gold is heading to record its largest weekly loss in six weeks today, as the escalation of mutual strikes between the United States and Iran led to a rise in oil prices, which increased inflationary pressures and enhanced the possibility of raising US interest rates.

Gold rose in instant transactions by 0.5 percent to $3,988.20 per ounce by 03:13 GMT, after recording earlier in the session the lowest level since the first of July.

US gold futures for August delivery settled at $3,992. However, the yellow metal has lost 3.2 percent since the beginning of the week, its largest decline since the beginning of June.

“Even with the moderate CPI and Producer Price Index numbers, the rise in oil prices this week means that traders simply cannot celebrate the lower inflation numbers,” said Tim Waterer, chief market analyst at KCM Trade.

He continued, “Concerns about inflation and returns are the dominant forces hindering gold’s rise.”

As for other precious metals, silver fell in spot transactions 0.5 percent to $55.22 per ounce, platinum fell 0.7 percent to $1,605.62, and palladium fell 0.4 percent to $1,244.86. The three metals are heading towards recording a weekly loss.