Gold settles higher, records weekly gain

Gold bars

Gold and silver prices settled higher on Friday, posting weekly gains as lower oil prices supported precious metals. Investors continued to monitor developments in the Middle East conflict and their potential impact on inflation ahead of next week's Federal Reserve meeting.

Gold has declined by approximately 23% since the outbreak of the conflict between the United States and Iran in late February, as expectations that war-related inflation could keep interest rates higher for longer weighed on the precious metal.

Attention is now focused on next week's Federal Reserve meeting, where policymakers are widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged. However, market pricing indicates an approximately 82% probability of a rate hike in September.