Gold futures for April touched $1,759 per ounce in early trading on Comex, but recouped some losses later in the day. As of 14:09 GMT, bullion prices were up around 0.4 percent higher at $1,781.60.

Spot gold also started Friday’s trading at multi-month lows. The price of the precious metal fell to around $1,760, the lowest since last July. However, it rebounded later in the session to trade almost half-a-percent higher at $1,783 per ounce.

The beginning of this year marked a disappointing start for the precious metal, especially compared to 2020, when it enjoyed its best annual returns in a decade and surged around 25 percent for the whole pandemic year.

Bullion prices erased around six percent since the beginning of January, while more risky assets such as bitcoin have attracted more and more investors. At the same time, stronger dollar and hopes for economic recovery also contributed to lack of interest to the traditional safe-haven asset.

Weakening physical demand as well as disappointing jewelry sales are among key headwinds for the gold market, Bank of America said, as cited by Business Insider. However, the bank did not change its forecast for this year and expects gold prices to average $2,063.