Gold slips as dollar rises; silver falls 4.5%

Gold futures for April delivery fell 0.39%, or $20.4, to $5,158.7 per ounce

Gold and silver futures fell in Thursday trading as the US dollar strengthened after US inflation data reduced expectations of interest-rate cuts, while the war in the Middle East pushed oil prices back above $100 a barrel.

Gold futures for April delivery fell 0.39%, or $20.4, to $5,158.7 per ounce as of 08:54 Makkah time.

Spot gold also slipped 0.39% to $5,156.48 per ounce. Spot platinum was steady at $2,170.94, while palladium rose 0.56% to $1,646.42 per ounce.

Silver futures for May delivery dropped 4.51% to $85.4 per ounce, while spot silver edged down 0.21% to $85.56.

The dollar index, which measures the US currency against a basket of major currencies, rose 0.22% to 99.45.

On the outlook for US monetary policy, analysts at Goldman Sachs postponed their expectations for rate cuts and now forecast quarter-percentage-point reductions in September and December this year, citing rising risks linked to the conflict in the Middle East.