Gold futures were little changed on Friday in early trade, but looking at a four-week losing streak—the metal’s worst period of declines since late July.
December gold was 50 cents, or less than 0.1%, lower at $1,080.50 U.S. an ounce, after settling at $1,081 U.S. an ounce on Thursday, hovering around a five-year settlement low for a most-active contract.
Gold is on pace for a fourth weekly loss off 0.6%, the longest stretch of consecutive weekly declines since the five-week drop that ended July 24.
The slump for gold comes even as the dollar has weakened this week, posting a weekly fall of 0.1%, as measured by the ICE U.S. Dollar Index which is a measure of the greenback against a basket of six rival currencies.
A weaker dollar should be a boon to gold, making it more attractive to investors using other currencies. However, over the longer term, gold and other dollar-denominated commodities have been hamstrung at the prospect of a hike to benchmark interest rates by the Federal Reserve in December, which would lift the dollar.
Meanwhile, December silver was four cents, or 0.3%, lower at $14.19 U.S. an ounce, and on track for a weekly decline of 3.4%.
