Gold futures end higher for the week, but fall for the month

Gold futures rose Friday to end the week higher, but prices posted a loss for the month. The outlook for gold brightened after the Federal Reserve meeting on Wednesday, when Fed Chairman Jerome Powell “sounded less hawkish than feared,” said Lukman Otunuga, manager, market analysis, at FXTM. “With the dollar initially shaky and the Fed highly unlikely to move ahead with another jumbo rate hike in September, gold had a chance to fight back.” Still, “while the hotter-than-expected U.S. PCE inflation data could create obstacles down the road for the precious metal, the war is far from over for bulls.” The most-active December gold contract GCZ22, +0.77% rose $12.60, or 0.7%, to settle at $1,781.80 an ounce. Prices based on the most-active contract climbed 3.2% for the week and lost 1.4% for the month, according to Dow Jones Market Data.