Gold closes at lowest level this year and logs weekly losses

Gold prices fell during the session, erasing the marginal gains made earlier in the day, as the precious metal hit its lowest level since December 2018, and recorded weekly losses.

Investors aversion to buy gold as a safe today came after the release of positive economic data, including a drop in US jobless claims last week to a 50-year low and retail sales rising by 1.6% in March.

Meanwhile, the dollar index (against a number of major currencies) rose by 0.4% to 97.4 points at 17:35 GMT, reaching a high of 97.4 points and a low of 96.9 points.

Gold futures (June delivery) fell by less than 0.1% to close at $1276 an ounce. The precious metal posted a weekly loss of 1.5%, while the day's highest price was at $1279.7 and the lowest at $1273.