Gold prices post worst week since January. The dollar gets part of the blame.

By Barbara Kollmeyer

Gold and silver rose after weak jobs data were reported, but still finished lower for the week

Gold has failed to get much of a safe-haven bid this week, even as the Iran conflict has worsened.

As far as safe-haven assets go, gold has likely disappointed some investors this week, although the precious metal got a boost on Friday due to worse-than-expected U.S. jobs data.

Gold futures (GC00) (GCJ26) rose $80, or 1.6%, to settle at $5,158.70 an once. For the week, gold posted a weekly percentage decline of 2.3%, which was the biggest such drop since the week ending Jan. 30. It also snapped a four-week winning streak, according to Dow Jones Market Data.

Silver prices (SI00) (SIJ26) rose $2.13, or 2.6%, to settle at $84.31 an ounce. Silver also marked its worst week since Jan. 30, with a drop of 9.3%. It logged its first weekly decline in four weeks.

The U.S. economy lost 92,000 jobs in February, while economists were expecting a gain of 50,000. In theory, a weak jobs report would help build a case for the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates, and gold responded to the data with a surge, although it did spend some time pulling back from session highs.

Hopes for interest-rate cuts have been complicated by surging oil prices and inflationary pressures following the U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran that started last weekend. Oil (CL00) (CL.1) surged again Friday, with U.S. benchmark prices posting their strongest weekly percentage performance on record, as the conflict showed no signs of an end anytime soon.

Read: Oil surges toward a record weekly gain as Middle East conflict spurs worries over production cuts

Safe-haven demand for precious metals somewhat "blunted the blows from both the stronger dollar and rising Treasury yields," which were both were a function of rising oil prices and strong U.S. economic data, analysts at Sevens Report Research wrote in a Friday newsletter. Geopolitical uncertainty will remain the primary driver of the metals, they said.

But strength in the dollar and in Treasury yields has been standing in the way of gold claiming its place as a haven asset this week. The dollar DXY was up 1.4% this week, with the 10-year Treasury yield BX:TMUBMUSD10Y at 4.12%, up from 3.96% a week ago.

Gold has performed against "more general uncertainty, rather than this conflict, which can be more clearly expressed through energy markets," RBC analyst Allison Enck said.

"Thinking back to key sources of uncertainty (trade, tariffs, politics, U.S. government shutdown, Fed independence, Greenland, general geopolitics, etc.), they were either more pervasive across markets, or just difficult to express in any single market," Enck wrote in a note to clients. "In this case, the market has rightfully focused on the energy market first, making the need for a general uncertainty hedge less severe, albeit still relevant."

Jim Wyckoff, senior analyst at Kitco, noted reports that gold was being offered at a discount in Dubai, as the Iran conflict grounded flights and prevented suppliers from moving bullion out of that important trading hub.

"Traders are offering discounts of as much as $30 an ounce to the global benchmark in London, as many buyers have stepped back from new orders due to high shipping and insurance costs. The disruption to gold shipments from Dubai is affecting buyers in India, but near-term demand is relatively muted and inventories are swollen by a large volume of imports in January," Wyckoff told clients in a note.

Myra P. Saefong contributed.

-Barbara Kollmeyer

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03-06-26 1516ET