(RTTNews) – Gold edged lower on Friday, but was set for a third weekly gain as a two-week US-Iran ceasefire agreement eased concerns over a possible Federal Reserve rate hike this year.
Spot gold fell 0.3 percent to $4,748.31 an ounce, while US gold futures for June delivery were down 1 percent at $4,772.17 an ounce.
The dollar was little changed but headed for its biggest weekly decline since January on optimism over US-Iran diplomatic talks later this week.
However, tensions remained throughout Lebanon over Israeli attacks and the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.
According to ship-tracking data, only seven ships passed through the strait in the past 24 hours, while the normal daily flow was about 140.
Israel and Hezbollah launched attacks overnight as US President Donald Trump criticized Iran’s handling of the Strait of Hormuz and warned Tehran against imposing tariffs on oil tankers.
Trump said Washington, as the ‘winner’ of the war, has ‘the concept’ of charging tolls in strategic waterways.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that his country was ready for direct talks with Lebanon, while insisting that Israeli strikes targeting Hezbollah would continue across the country.
The IDF warned that Hezbollah could expand rocket attacks beyond northern Israel, raising fears of a wider escalation.
Addressing the nation, Iran’s newly appointed Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei declared victory in the West Asia conflict and vowed that Iran would not spare the US-Israel for alleged acts of aggression.
Elsewhere, Ukraine and Russia have agreed a rare 32-hour ceasefire for Orthodox Easter, with both sides declaring a temporary pause in fighting.
In an economic release, the March US CPI report will be published later today, with economists expecting the consumer price index to rise 1 percent for the month, the sharpest one-month gain since 2022, as energy costs soar amid the war with Iran.
China’s factory-gate prices turned positive for the first time in more than three years in March due to higher import costs linked to Middle East tensions, official data showed earlier in the day. The consumer price index rose 1 percent year on year in March.
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