By Gina Lee

Investing.com – Gold was down on Friday morning in Asia, held near a three-month low as the dollar continued to strengthen over the U.S. Federal Reserves’ tightening policies.

They were at $1,824.17 as of 11:07 ET (07:07 GMT). A 3.2% drop in weekly Bullion prices is expected, which would be the biggest plunge in over two months.

The normal movement of the dollar in relation to gold is inversely related, but Friday’s move saw it fall a little.

Dollar reached a new 20-year record. The tightening of policies has given the currency an extra boost, causing investors to be concerned.

Benchmark edged up Friday

Fed Chair called stable prices the “bedrock” of the economy, saying on Thursday that the central bank’s battle to cool inflation would “include some pain” as the impact of higher interest rates is felt. However, he stated that the best outcome is for the inflation to accelerate.

The data released Thursday revealed a 0.5% increase month-on-month for April. This was slower than March’s 1.6% rise due to lower energy prices.

The data released Thursday showed the increase to 203,000 from last week. This figure is higher than the 195,000 predicted by investing.com, and was 202,000 last week.

Other precious metals saw silver rise 0.5% but fall for the fourth straight week. Platinum rose 0.8% while palladium rose 1.4%, but it was still on track for weekly losses.