Gold prices futures eased to $2,324 during mid-session trading, reacting to higher-than-expected U.S. core inflation. This raised concerns about prolonged restrictive monetary policy, limiting gold’s upside. Bubula said part of the issue has to do with the fact that gold is priced in U.S. dollars. A weaker U.S. dollar means it takes more dollars to buy the same amount of gold. In other markets, the Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC ) and the S&P 500 (^GSPC ) reached record highs on Thursday. Bitcoin ( BTC-USD ) eclipsed $ 118,000 for the first time on Friday. Strength in stock prices and Bitcoin signals an appetite for risk among investors, which more commonly correlates with lower gold prices. Investors may be covering all bases after President Trump announced a 35% tariff on Canadian imports and suggested raising the baseline tariff, currently 10%, to 15% or 20%.