Spot gold slumped to a fresh 52-week low after it touched $1,204.6 per ounce intraday on Friday. The yellow metal declined 0.8 percent last week and extended its fall to four weeks in a row—its worst weekly rout since October 2017—and has fallen over 6.5 percent so far this year.
A slowdown in the Chinese economy, escalating trade tensions between the U.S. and China, coupled with the stronger dollar and rising interest rates have driven down gold prices, said Robin Bhar, head of metals research at Societe Generale. He said the price is likely to stay near the $1,200-per ounce-mark owing to weak physical demand.
The Dollar Index has surged nearly 3.5 percent so far in 2018. Historically, the last quarter of the calendar year has been seasonally weak for the precious metal. It has declined six times in the last seven years.
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