Oil prices settled lower on Friday, and posted their steepest weekly loss in three months as investors weighed weak U.S. jobs data and possible timing of a Federal Reserve interest rate cut.

Brent crude futures for July settled 71 cents lower, or 0.85%, to $82.96 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude for June fell 84 cents, or 1.06%, to $78.11 a barrel.

The U.S. dollar retreated from near six-month highs after Fed Chair Jerome Powell confirmed the central bank's easing bias, raising the likelihood of a more aggressive dollar selloff ahead. However, Barclays still sees the potential for more dollar upside.

“Parts of the market worry that - like in late 2023 - the bar is too high for further dollar strength. We argue this time things are quite different,” analysts at Barclays said, in a note dated May 1.

2024 has seen gold prices surge to new record levels, with the yellow metal exceeding $2,400 an ounce last month due to increased global demand amid economic and geopolitical uncertainties.

Remarkably, strategists at Goldman Sachs believe there’s even more upside room for the safe-haven metal, saying it could potentially exceed $3,000 by year’s end. 

Oil prices fell Monday, as fresh peace talks between Israel and militant group Hamas in Cairo cooled bets of a wider conflict in the Middle East disrupting supplies.

At 14:15 ET (18:15 GMT), Brent oil futures fell 1.3% to $87.02 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate crude futures fell 4.6% to $82.50 a barrel. 

The U.S. dollar fell Monday ahead of the latest Federal Reserve meeting, while the yen soared amid speculation Japanese authorities have been intervening to try and stem its seemingly relentless decline.

At 04:45 ET (08:45 GMT), the Dollar Index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six other currencies, traded 0.2% lower at 105.630, having climbed to 106.00 on Thursday. 

Gold prices moved little in Asian trade on Monday, seeing little relief from recent losses as traders continued to price in higher-for-longer U.S. interest rates before a Federal Reserve meeting later this week.

The yellow metal tumbled from record highs hit earlier in April as safe-haven demand waned in the absence of any escalation between Iran and Israel. This left gold vulnerable to outflows in the face of restrictive U.S. monetary policy.

Analysts at research and brokerage noted that Bitcoin price remains flat and without clear momentum, impacted by slower Bitcoin ETF flows after the 'halving' event and a successful ETF launch. 

Even with the recent slowdown, Bernstein is still betting on Bitcoin price to hit $150,000 by 2025 thanks to strong ETF demand inflows. 

The U.S. dollar drifted lower Friday, ahead of the release of key U.S. inflation data, which could drive sentiment with the Federal Reserve meeting next week.

At 04:55 ET (08:55 GMT), the Dollar Index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six other currencies, traded 0.1% lower at 105.395, having climbed to 106.00 on Thursday. 

Gold snapped a five-week wining streak Friday, but the yellow metal's bullish run likely isn't over yet as tailwinds including central bank demand have more room to go just as the tide of outflows from gold exchange traded funds are starting to turn.  

Gold prices rose 0.3% to $2,348.75, but took heavy losses earlier this week following easing Middle East tensions after Iran-Israel showed little appetite to escalate their tit-for-tat exchange.  

Prominent crypto analyst Ali Martinez has observed a significant decline in Bitcoin whale activity since March 14, sparking speculation about its potential impact on BTC price. Martinez's analysis, supported by accompanying charts, reveals a notable drop in transactions involving sums exceeding $100,000, following Bitcoin's surge to a new high of $73,750 per BTC.

Data from Martinez's charts highlights that over the past 24 hours, transactions above $100,000 amounted to 2,896, with those surpassing $1 million totaling 521. Prior to Bitcoin's peak, whale activity exhibited a proportional increase, peaking at around 4,500 daily transactions valued at a million dollars or more, and approximately 24,500 transactions exceeding $100,000.