Due to concerns of significant rate increases, gold is expected to decline for a second consecutive week

Gold prices remained unchanged on Friday but were headed for their second consecutive weekly decrease due to concerns that major central banks may raise interest rates significantly to combat hyperinflation.

After touching a one-week low of $1,820.99 earlier in the day, spot gold was last up 0.1 percent to $1,824.72 per ounce at 0215 GMT. American gold futures decreased 0.2% to $1,825.90.

This week, gold prices have fallen by around 0.9 percent.

Jerome Powell, the head of the U.S. Federal Reserve, told lawmakers on Thursday that the central bank's commitment to containing the country's 40-year-high inflation is "unconditional," despite the fact that he conceded that considerably higher interest rates might increase unemployment.

"The U.S. currency is still strong, and current projections point to a July 75-basis-point Fed rate hike. These factors have prevented any increase in gold prices, since the TIPS spread, a market-based proxy for inflation expectations, is also close to a 4-month low "Matt Simpson, a senior market analyst with City Index, said.

When the dollar is strong, gold priced in dollars is more expensive for buyers using other currencies. [USD/]

Standard 10-year Treasury yields increased on Friday, which decreased demand for gold. [US/]

The opportunity cost of owning bullion, which pays no interest, increases as interest rates and bond yields rise.

Given its failure to surpass $1,850, its 200-day average, this week, Simpson stated that gold "seems vulnerable over the near-term," adding that "were it not for the fear of a worldwide recession then gold would certainly be lower than it presently is."

The largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund in the world, SPDR Gold Trust, reported that its holdings decreased 0.81 percent on Thursday to 1,063.07 tonnes from 1,071.77 tonnes the previous day. [GOL/ETF]

Platinum increased 0.9 percent to $915.11 and spot silver rose 0.4 percent to $21.02 per ounce, but both were still headed for weekly losses.

The price of palladium increased 1.4 percent to $1,870.29 and is up around 3 percent this week.