Gold futures up for third straight day, while ending February down

The gold futures inclined for the third consecutive day on Friday amid mixed U.S. economic data, despite the fact that the price of gold fell more than 5% in February following record increases in January. As gold ended the first month of the year up 8%.

On the Comex division of New York Mercantile Exchange, Gold futures for April delivery edged up 0.2% to $1,213.19 a tory ounce. Moreover, Gold reached a high of $1,219.20 on Friday morning in the U.S. session, while the U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, dipped 0.07 or 0.07% to 95.29.

The Feds Chairman Janet Yellen addressed early this week with The House Financial Services Committee members a potential interest-rate hike, Yellen reiterated that the Fed could wait several additional meetings before raising rates.

Yellen testimony indicated that the central bank could raise interest rates later this year if wages increase and inflation moves closer to its targeted goal of 2%, In line with the fact that the gold can lose its appeal as a safe haven in periods of rising interest rates, Gold prices have fallen back in February upon expectations of an impending interest-rate hike.

The dollar fell slightly on Friday after the release of mixed U.S. economic data. Gross domestic product for the final quarter of 2014 rose at a 2.2% rate, down from an initial estimate of 2.6%, the Commerce Department said. Chicago PMI, fell further than expected -- dropping to a five and a half year low of 45.8.

In addition, frigid temperatures nationwide caused the University of Michigan's Consumer Sentiment index to drop for the month of February following an 11-year high the previous month. At the same time, The National Association of Realtors Pending Home Sales Index increased 1.7% for January, marking the fifth consecutive month of year-over-year gains.