Gold finishes up for 3rd straight session

Gold prices consolidated their gains at the close of trading today, Feb. 20, as the US dollar and bond yields declined in anticipation of more data to forecast prospects for US monetary policy.

Bullion for April delivery climbed by 0.8%, or $15.7, at $2,039.8 per ounce, after ending trading on Feb. 16 recording losses for the second week in a row.

However, the US dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, declined by 0.25% to 104.04 points at 09:16 pm Makkah time.

“The most likely wildcard path to $3,000/ounce gold is a rapid acceleration of an existing but slow-moving trend: de-dollarization across Emerging Markets central banks that in turn leads to a crisis of confidence in the US dollar,” Aakash Doshi, Citi’s North America Head of Commodities Research, said in a recent note, noting that bullion is likely to surge by about 50%.

Markets await on Feb. 21 the release of the minutes of the Federal Reserve’s January meeting, during which it fixed interest rates for the fifth time since the start of the current tightening cycle in March 2022.