Gold rose on Friday on bargain-hunting but remained on track for a fourth straight weekly loss, as the US-Israel war with Iran stoked inflation concerns, lifted the dollar and reinforced expectations of higher interest rates.
Spot gold rose 1.1 per cent to $4,425.39 per ounce as of 1018 GMT. Gold was set for a weekly loss of 1.4 per cent so far having touched a four-month low of $4,097.99 on Monday. US gold futures for April delivery gained 1 per cent to $4,421.30.
"The initial knee-jerk liquidity needs have been met, and now gold is able to perform," said Nitesh Shah, commodity strategist at WisdomTree. "Savvy investors have been using the dip in prices as an opportunity to build."
Brent crude rose to nearly $110 a barrel, even as US President Donald Trump extended a pause in attacks on Iran's energy plants for 10 days.
The US has also sent thousands of troops to West Asia, with Trump weighing whether to use ground forces to seize Iran's strategic oil hub of Kharg Island.
Since the war began, oil prices have surged, fuelling inflation concerns that would typically support bullion as an inflation hedge. However, higher interest rates tend to weigh on non-yielding gold.
Traders have priced out any chance of US rate cuts in 2026 and see a 40 per cent% chance of a rate hike by year-end, per CME Group's FedWatch Tool. The market was expecting two cuts before the war began.
"Bullion is trying to rebound after the recent selloff, but it is clear that we will remain in volatile territory until there is more clarity about the US-Iran situation," said Swissquote analyst Carlo Alberto De Casa.
Softer bullion prices attracted some buying in India this week, though many held off in anticipation of a further price drop.
Meanwhile, the Turkish Central Bank's gold reserves posted their largest weekly drop since August 2018 amid fallout from the Iran war.
Spot silver rose 1.1 per cent to $68.74 per ounce. Spot platinum gained 2.5 per cent to $1,872.87, while palladium rose 1.7 per cent to $1,376.66.
Published on March 27, 2026