Gold rises, maintains 4-week winning steak

Gold bars

Gold prices rose on Friday, nearing their highest ever levels amid market' assessment of a decline in consumer confidence for the first time in six months.

Gold futures for February delivery increased by 0.5%, or $13.9, to settle at $2,778.9 per ounce, with a weekly gain of 1.1%.

Accordingly, the yellow precious metal maintained its uptrend for the fourth straight week.

This coincided with a 0.55% drop in the US dollar index to 107.43 points, at 10:51 pm Makkah time.

According to a final report released by the University of Michigan on Friday, the US consumer sentiment fell from 74.0 in December 2024 to 71.1 in January 2024, marking a 3.9% monthly decline.