PRECIOUS-Gold heads for weekly loss as dollar advances

By Pablo Sinha

Feb 20 (Reuters) - Gold steadied on Friday, but was set for a weekly decline as the dollar climbed to a near one-month high, while investors awaited key U.S. inflation data to assess the Federal Reserve's monetary policy moving forward.

Spot gold XAU= was steady at $5,000.40 per ounce, as of 0530 GMT, and was down about 1% for the week so far. U.S. gold futures GCcv1 for April delivery were up 0.4% at $5,019.10.

"Precious metals are consolidating with a slight downward bias at this time... We've seen the dollar picking up from its lows and that led to a bit of a pressure in precious metals," said GoldSilver Central Managing Director Brian Lan.

"Even during this period when there is no China market to support gold, we've seen that prices have more or less been steady, which also tells you that there is still a lot of buying in lower levels for gold."

Markets in Mainland China and Taiwan were closed for the Lunar New Year holidays.

The dollar was set for its strongest weekly performance since October, supported by a run of stronger-than-expected economic data, a more hawkish Federal Reserve outlook and lingering tensions between the U.S. and Iran. USD/

The Personal Consumption Expenditure (PCE) data, the Fed's preferred inflation gauge, for December is now in focus for clues on U.S. monetary policy.

Non-yielding bullion tends to do well in low-interest-rate environments.

Goldman Sachs said in a note that under the base case scenario, it expects central bank buying to re‑accelerate, while private investors will add exposure only in response to Fed rate cuts, driving gold higher to $5,400/troy ounce by end‑2026.

It also said it continues to see the medium-term trajectory for gold prices as upward, potentially with elevated volatility.

Elsewhere, spot silver XAG= edged 0.2% higher to $78.47 per ounce. Spot platinum XPT= ticked up 0.1% to $2,071.63 per ounce, while palladium XPD= gained 0.1% to $1,684.59.