Gold futures end higher for the session, fall for the week

Gold futures climbed on Friday, finding support following a September reading on U.S. consumer sentiment, but prices marked their fourth weekly loss in five weeks. A survey of consumer sentiment from the University of Michigan showed a rise to 59.5 in September. It also revealed that inflation has slowed a bit in the past few months. Gold prices had a terrible week, but saw a “small relief rally” on Friday as the economic numbers “confirmed that the Fed can’t be extra hawkish as that will completely kill the [economic] recovery,” said Naeem Aslam, chief market analyst at AvaTrade. The gold market also saw “some bargain hunters stepping into the market as prices are way too cheap.” December gold GCZ22, +0.35% rose $6.20, or 0.4%, to settle at $1,683.50 an ounce on Comex, a day after losing 1.9% and settling at its lowest since April 2020. For the week, the most-active contract lost 2.6%, according to Dow Jones Market Data.