Monday Open: $1,574.60
Weekly High: $1,584.50
Weekly Low: $1,566.30
Friday Close: $1,578.10

Gold experienced some modest ups and downs this week, but nothing occurred to dramatically alter the price bracket, so the yellow metal ended the week nearly the same as it began.

Monday opened pretty flat, trading around a solid $1,575. Strong economic news from China and steady gold demand continued through to Tuesday, when fresh economic stimulus measures were announced to boost the economy up to a targeted 7.5% GDP. This is a bullish factor for the raw commodity sector, as well as stocks worldwide. However, the price gain was kept in check by the news that the Dow Jones Industrial Average hit a new all-time record high, which drew interest toward riskier endeavors and away from safe haven investments like gold.

Wednesday saw some gains after the Federal Reserve released news that their economic reports only show moderate to modest economic growth, not enough to put a halt to the aggressively low monetary rates that are currently in place. Gold bugs are delighted on this news because loose Fed policy helps keep gold relevant as a hedge fund.

Thursday held on pretty steadily, with some impetus in trading from a lower U.S. dollar and some positive economic developments in Europe. Mostly, though, traders were awaiting Friday’s employment reports for the month of February.

The sharp dip in prices on Friday was indeed due to Friday’s morning reports of better-than-expected jobs growth and declining unemployment rates. Friday hit a fresh two-week low, but quickly rebounded on short-term bargain hunting and opportunist market-seeking to close the week slightly higher than it began.