jan 20 reuters  gold prices held steady on friday but were on track for a fifth consecutive weekly gain as a weaker dollar and hopes of slower us interest rate hikes boosted the safehaven bullions appeal spot gold was little changed at 193004 per ounce as of 0308 gmt and was up 05 for the week on thursday prices hit 193520 the highest since april 2022 the us federal reserve will end its tightening cycle after a 25basispoint hike at each of its next two policy meetings and then likely hold interest rates steady for at least the rest of the year according to a reuters poll it is possible for gold to hit 2000 this year but for that we need to see a down shift in hawkish tone from the fed to confirm current market rate hike expectations said ig market strategist yeap jun rong boston fed president susan collins said on thursday that the fed would probably need to raise rates to just above 5 while fed vice chair lael brainard said there was evidence in favour of a soft landing for the us economy with lower rates translating into lesser returns on interestbearing assets like government bonds investors may prefer zeroyield gold there are signals that show that the us is probably heading to a recession this will favour gold as it is historically supportive for gold said brian lan managing director at singaporebased dealer goldsilver central data on wednesday showed us retail sales dropped by the most in a year putting the overall economy on a weaker growth path heading into 2023 the dollar index was headed for a second consecutive weekly drop making bullion cheaper for overseas buyers platinum fell 01 to 103225 palladium lost 03 to 174828 both metals headed for a second straight week of declines reporting by ashitha shivaprasad in bengaluru editing by rashmi aich and eileen soreng