Gold fell early Friday in Asia, holding near a three-month low as the dollar continued to strengthen on the US Federal Reserve's tightening policy. Gold futures were down 0.02% at $1,824.17.

Bullion is set for a 3.2% weekly decline, its biggest in two months. The dollar, which normally moves inversely to gold, was slightly lower on Friday morning.

The dollar rose to a 20-year high. Investors worried about a recession caused by tightening policies, gave the currency a boost. Benchmark US 10-year Treasury yields edged up on Friday.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell called stable prices the "base" 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.

But he said the worse outcome was that prices would continue to accelerate. On the data front, the US Producer Price Index (PPI) released on Thursday showed 0.5% month-on-month growth in April.

Gold Prices in the Market Move Weaker

Slower than March's 1.6% gain, as rising cost pressures eased for energy products. Data released on Thursday also showed that US Initial Jobless Claims increased to 203,000 last week.

The figure was above the 195,000 forecasts by Investing.com and the 202,000 the previous week. In other precious metals, silver was up 0.5% but set for a fourth straight weekly decline.

Platinum was up 0.8%, while palladium was up 1.4% but set for a weekly loss. Gold fell early Wednesday in Asia, hitting its lowest level since Feb. 11, as investors watched the dollar rise and inflation data.

Gold futures were down 0.22% at $1,836.96 by 23:06 ET (3:06 GMT). Forecasts prepared by Investing.com expect the figure to moderate but remain above 8%.

The dollar, which normally moves inversely with gold, was slightly lower on Wednesday morning but has been small. The US Federal Reserve's tightened inflation-fighting policies have fueled the dollar's gains for five weeks.

The Fed raised interest rates to 1% last week. Fed officials on Tuesday reiterated their stance on aggressive efforts to slow inflation the fastest in 40 years.

As investors expect additional increases of the same magnitude from the Fed, they are waiting for the US Core CPI, due later today, for further clues on the Fed's monetary policy.

Gold Weakens Against China's Economy

In the Asia Pacific, Australian consumer sentiment released on Wednesday fell 5.6% in May from April, according to the Westpac-Melbourne Institute index. Soaring inflation and rising interest rates weigh on household spending.

Gold prices for yesterday, Monday, decreased by 1.6% amid the strengthening of the US dollar. This decline is ahead of reporting inflation data that will be released for the next few days.

In other precious metals, silver was down 0.1%. Platinum edged up 0.1%, while palladium was down 1.2%. Economists are currently still talking about US inflation data that will be released on Wednesday tomorrow. Which is a strong hint of a tightening path.

The precious metal has seen a decline since mid-April, after responding to monetary policy related to the acceleration of interest rate hikes by the US central bank and central banks of other countries.

These conditions provided support to bond yields and made the US dollar even more trending towards its highest level in 5 weeks. Indeed, gold is still in the dark because it is less attractive if the dollar rises.

Looking at the situation in China, where the country's export and import levels are still struggling. Based on the released data, where the pandemic occurred, damaged demand, production, and logistics.

With this situation, the demand for precious metal bullion decreased. Whereas China is the largest gold consumer in the world. However, if conditions do not improve, then the price of gold is still sluggish.