Gold prices drifted lower on Friday as the dollar firmed up against most of its rivals.<\/p>\n
Gold prices moved up early on in the session, riding on U.S. President-elect Joe Biden’s announcement of a $1.9 trillion stimulus package proposal and the Federal Reserve’s dovish outlook for the next year.<\/p>\n
Risk sentiment weakened due to worries over a rise in coronavirus<\/span> infections in Europe and China, tighter lockdown restrictions in several cities across the world, and growing tensions between the U.S. and China.<\/p>\n The dollar index rose to 90.77, gaining nearly 0.6%.<\/p>\n Gold futures for February ended down $21.50 or about 1.2% at $1,829.90 an ounce. Gold futures shed about 0.3% this week.<\/p>\n Silver futures for March ended lower by $0.936 at $24.866 an ounce, while Copper futures for March settled at $3.6020 per pound, down $0.0625 from the previous close.<\/p>\n Several countries across the world have tightened lockdown measures. France strengthened border controls and extended a curfew to the entire country on Thursday to combat the virus as the situation remains worrying.<\/p>\n China has put millions of people in lockdown in response to new outbreaks of Covid-19 in the north and northeast.<\/p>\n Data from the Commerce Department said retail sales fell by 0.7% in December after tumbling by a revised 1.4% in November. Economists had expected retail sales to come in unchanged compared to the 1.1% slump originally reported for the previous month.<\/p>\n The Labor Department said its producer price index for final demand rose by 0.3% in December after inching up by 0.1% in November. Economists had expected producer prices to rise by 0.4%.<\/p>\n Activity in the New York manufacturing sector unexpectedly grew at a slower pace in the month of January, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York revealed in a report released today. <\/p>\n