Update: Gold Rises to Two-Week High as Weaker Dollar Boosts Prices
(Updates prices in the second and final paragraphs.)Gold traded at a two-week high midafternoon Wednesday, climbing for a second-straight session as the US dollar weakened.Gold for August delivery was last seen up $75.20, or 1.8%, to $4,151.60 per ounce, the highest level since July 7.Still, the metal remains down 7.5% since the start of the year, as the Middle East conflict has driven up energy costs, fueling concerns that central banks may need to raise interest rates and prompting investors to favor the US dollar and bonds over gold. However, the metal has found support around the $4,000 level, falling below that mark only once over the past month."Bullion is holding up despite firmer US yields and a stronger dollar, as energy-driven inflation risk and safe-haven demand from the Middle East conflict outweigh those headwinds," Saxo Bank noted.The dollar eased, with the ICE dollar index last seen down 0.2 points to 101.15. Treasury yields rose, with the US two-year note last seen paying 4.306%, up 2.8 basis points, while the yield on the 10-year note was up 2.9 points to 4.658%.