Gold Gains as Weaker Dollar Boosts Appeal; Oil Slips Amid US-Iran Supply Risks

Commodities markets had a mixed performance on Friday September 3 as gold was seen rising due to weak US dollar while crude oil prices slightly dropped amid traders assessing the impacts of renewed military confrontations between the US and Iran. 

Oil prices were down during Thursday’s trading session due to worries that the ongoing military confrontation between the US and Iran may lead to possible supply disruption from the Middle East region. According to the report, it is the first major confrontation since the end of July and is already in its seventh month. 

Brent crude futures declined by 43 cents or 0.45% to $95.20 a barrel while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures fell 24 cents or 0.26% to $90.77 a barrel. 

It was revealed in the report that both, the Brent and WTI witnessed massive volatility in the last trading session after peaking as high as $2 and losing close to $1 a barrel. 

The report noted that both Brent and WTI experienced sharp swings in the previous trading session, moving between gains of as much as $2 a barrel and losses of around $1 a barrel. Session highs for both benchmark contracts were their highest levels since July 24.  

Meanwhile, gold prices advanced as the US dollar weakened, with investors evaluating comments from policymakers for clues on the Federal Reserve’s future interest-rate trajectory.  

Bullion gained as much as 1.6% after the dollar came under pressure following a sharp rise in the Japanese yen. A weaker dollar generally makes gold more attractive to overseas buyers because the precious metal is priced in the US currency.  

Precious metals were also on the upswing. Silver climbed by 1.9%, whereas platinum and palladium gained. 

US Dollar Index measuring the performance of the US dollar against a group of currencies fell 0.05 percent to 99.54 in the foreign exchange markets. Euro gained 0.02 percent to trade at $1.1589, while Japanese yen increased 0.07 percent to trade at 158.59 per dollar after gaining 0.9 percent before.