Gold rallied to a record on Wednesday, building on stellar momentum driven mostly by bets for U.S. monetary easing, while autocatalyst palladium popped back above the $1,000 mark for the first time since Jan. 12.

Spot gold gained 0.8% to $2,145.09 per ounce as of 2:03 p.m. ET (1903 GMT) after hitting an all-time high of $2,152.09 earlier in the session.

A strong U.S. dollar will maintain the status quo in the near term, as markets brace for a risk the Federal Reserve's first interest rate cut gets delayed to the second half of this year, according to a Reuters poll of foreign exchange strategists.

Shrugging off a weakening trend late last year, the dollar has gained against nearly every currency tracked by traders and investors, and is up nearly 2.5% for the year.

Gold prices moved little in Asian trade on Tuesday, remaining within sight of record highs as uncertainty over the global economy and some bets on early interest rate cuts drove a sharp melt-up in bullion.

But the rally now appeared to have paused before more signals on the U.S. economy, particularly from comments from the Federal Reserve and key labor market data due later in the week.

The dollar edged down against a basket of currencies on Tuesday after data showed U.S. services industry growth eased and as investors braced for a busy week that includes a European Central Bank rate decision, congressional testimony from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and U.S. jobs data.

Bitcoin hit a record high on Tuesday before retreating sharply in a volatile session. The world's largest cryptocurrency is up nearly 50% this year, fueled by investors pouring money into U.S. spot exchange-traded crypto products and the prospect that global interest rates may fall.

Gold prices swelled to settle at an all-time high on Monday, underpinned by ongoing geopolitical tensions and bets on a Fed rate cuts ahead of testimony from Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell later this week. 

Spot gold rose 1.5% to settled at a record of $2,126.30, while gold futures expiring in April 1.4% to $2,125.65 an ounce. 

Crude prices settled lower Monday, as widely expected decision from OPEC+ to extend its current pace of production cuts until the second quarter offered little support amid ongoing concerns tepid demand.

At 14:30 ET, or (19:30 GMT), the West Texas Intermediate crude futures for May fell 1.5% to settle at $78.74 per barrel, while Brent oil futures expiring in May had fell 0.8% to $82.86 a barrel.

The dollar fell against the euro on Friday on weaker than expected U.S. economic data but gained against the Japanese yen after Bank of Japan (BOJ) governor Kazuo Ueda said it was too soon to declare victory on inflation.

In cryptocurrencies, bitcoin held just below a more than two-year high reached on Wednesday.

U.S. manufacturing slumped further in February, with a measure of factory employment dropping to a seven-month low amid declining new orders. Construction spending, which had been expected to increase, also fell in January.

Oil prices rose 2% on Friday and posted weekly gains as traders awaited an OPEC+ decision on supply agreements for the second quarter while also weighing fresh U.S., European and Chinese economic data.

Brent futures for May settled $1.64 higher, or 2%, at $83.55 a barrel. The April Brent futures contract expired on Feb. 29 at $83.62 a barrel.

Bitcoin (BTC) has surged past the $60,000 mark for the first time since November 2021, driven by a continued influx of exchange-traded fund (ETF) investments. Over the past two days, ETFs have seen a combined net inflow of $1.1 billion, with demand from Bitcoin ETFs outpacing daily Bitcoin production by miners by approximately tenfold.

Amid this upward trajectory, analysts at Bernstein highlighted an interesting trend – the underperformance of Bitcoin mining stocks compared to cryptocurrency’s performance.

The dollar rose on Thursday in choppy trading and was on track for its second consecutive monthly gain against the euro and yen, overcoming an earlier dip after data showed that U.S. inflation was as expected in January.

The yen gained after a policymaker hinted at the need to exit ultra-easy policies, while bitcoin held near a more than two-year high reached on Wednesday.