Investing.com - Gold rallied to the highest level in seven weeks on Friday on the back of heightened expectations that the Federal Reserve will hold off on hiking interest rates until 2016.
Gold for December delivery was up 0.97% to $1,155.4 in late trade on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, the highest close since August 24.
For the week, gold futures climbed 1.69% as uncertainty over how soon the U.S. central bank will start to raise interest rates weighed on the dollar.
Gold would benefit from any delay in raising U.S. interest rates as higher interest rates make gold look less competitive against interest-yielding assets.
A rate hike would also boost the dollar, which would make dollar-denominated gold more expensive to holders of other currencies.
Minutes from the Fed’s September policy meeting, published on Thursday, showed that most policymakers thought an initial rate hike should still come this year and that financial market turmoil had not "materially altered" the outlook for the U.S. economy.
But the minutes also noted that recent global economic and financial developments may have increased the downside risks to the U.S. economy.
The minutes underlined the view that the Fed will delay rate hikes until well into 2016.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, fell to three-week lows of 94.93, down 0.49%. For the week the index was down 1.14%.
In the week ahead, investors will be looking to Wednesday’s U.S. data on retail sales and Thursday’s data on consumer prices for fresh indications on the strength of consumer spending.
Elsewhere in precious metals trading, silver futures for December delivery posted a weekly gain of 3.88%, ending at $15.81. Silver hit three-and-a-half month highs of $16.09 on Thursday on a softer dollar and expectations for a delay in hiking U.S. interest rates.
Platinum gained 7.45% for the week, its best weekly performance since September 2012. Platinum’s gains came after prices dropped to a seven-year trough earlier this month, amid fears that the Volkswagen (XETRA:VOWG) emissions scandal would hit demand for diesel cars, in which the metal is used in catalysts.