Gold closes lower, posts weekly rise

Gold bars

Gold prices fell on Friday, Jan. 3, from their highest level in three weeks, as markets awaited potential economic and trade shifts under the administration of US President-elect Donald Trump.

Gold futures for February 2025 delivery closed 0.55%, or $14.3, down at $2,654.7 per ounce. However, the yellow metal posted a weekly gain of 0.85%.

Curbing deeper losses for gold was a decline in the Dollar Index—which measures the performance of the US dollar against a basket of six major currencies—by 0.4% to 108.95 points as of 10:51 pm KSA time.

Nitesh Shah, a commodity strategist at WisdomTree, stated that the new president's agenda, which supports higher tariffs, strengthened the dollar and created significant fundamental pressures on metal markets, according to Reuters.

Trump is set to officially assume office on Jan. 20. He has repeatedly pledged to impose high tariffs on imports from many countries, raising fears of an imminent global trade war.