By Eileen Soreng

(Reuters.) – On Friday, gold prices fluctuated between the expectations of U.S. aggressive rate hikes and jitters regarding high inflation.

By 0858 GMT, the price per ounce had remained flat at $1931.53, but was up 0.4% week-over-week. The U.S. was down 0.2% at $1,933.80.

Ricardo Evangelista from ActivTrades, senior analyst with the company said: “On the one hand we have geopolitical dangers generated by the conflict in Ukraine and rising inflation providing support for the precious Metal… On the other side is the Federal Reserve’s increasingly hawkish stance.”

“Gold prices will remain in the current range until one of these variables gains clear dominance over the others.”

Earlier in the day, the hit its highest since May 2020, bolstered by minutes of the Fed’s March policy meeting that showed “many” policymakers were prepared to raise rates in half-percentage-point increments in coming meetings to curb inflation. [USD/]

This benchmark reached a record three years ago. [US/]

Rising U.S. rates of interest and Treasury yield are highly sensitive to gold, which increases the opportunity cost for holding non-yielding bullion while also increasing the value in the greenback it is being priced.

Russia’s assessment of the invasion of Ukraine was the darkest yet. It described the “tragedy” of increasing troop losses as well as the economic impact of Western sanctions.

According to a World Gold Council report, “The strongest influence on gold in quarter two will be from rising rates and inflation.”

“The post-COVID economic recovery and supply side disruptions, which have been exacerbated by the Russia–Ukraine war, will likely keep inflation higher for longer.”

Spot gold rose 0.4%, to $24.66/ounce.

Platinum was 0.1% lower at $961.67 per ounce, while palladium rose 1.2% to $2,260.41 an ounce. Each metal suffered a fifth consecutive weekly loss.