Rising interest rates and the strong dollar are weakening gold

Frankfurt Little shine for gold: Gold prices have fallen for the third straight week, briefly falling below the much-noticed $1,800 a troy ounce mark on Friday to a five-month low of $1,784. Later in the day, the shiny metal scaled back the threshold to reach $1810.

Experts continue to see the price of gold under pressure for various reasons. In her opinion, the rising interest rates and the strong US dollar in particular are causing the role of gold as a crisis currency and protection against inflation to fade into the background.

The strongest influencing factor is currently the rising capital market interest rates, says Christopher Louney, strategist at the Canadian investment bank RBC Capital Markets. Rising interest rates are problematic for gold because they make the precious metal, which does not generate current income, less attractive.