By Asha Sistla

(Reuters) – Gold prices remained stuck in a tight range Friday, as the dollar strengthened on the prospect of aggressive U.S. Federal Reserve interest rate increases. This partially offsets safe-haven demand that is fueled by the lingering Russia/Ukraine conflict.

The ounce price was $1,929.48 by 0318 GMT. U.S. fell 0.3% to $1,931.90

Jeffrey Halley (OANDA senior analyst) stated that “gold has held up fairly well this week due to the move higher U.S. yields as well as the U.S. dollars, so we might be seeing some underlining haven and inflation buying supporting the downside.”

The U.S. Dollar rose to an almost two-year high in relation to a basket currency and recorded its highest week ever. This was backed up by the hawkish comments of several Federal Reserve policymakers who call for faster interest rate rises to reduce inflation. [USD/]

The U.S. Dollar is stronger, making gold less appealing to other currency holders.

In the last session, the benchmark hit a 3-year high. This increased the chance cost to hold non-yielding gold bullion. [US/]

However, gold is supported by uncertainty in Ukraine, high inflation and the persistent COVID-19 pandemic. But the Fed’s aggressive approach to combat inflation and stronger dollar, as well as recovering bond yields and strengthening the dollar, will keep prices down, Fitch Solutions stated in an April 7 note.

Russia offered the darkest assessment yet of its invasion in Ukraine. They described the “tragedy” that was mounting troop loss and the economic damage from sanctions. Ukrainians were forced to flee from the eastern parts of Ukraine before a major offensive.

Spot Silver fell 0.1% to $24.54/ounce

The price of platinum fell 0.2% to $960.57, while palladium rose 1.4% at $2,264.22. Both metals suffered their fifth weekly loss.