“Patience” has been the latest mantrafor gold investors as the yellow metal has struggled to find momentum as thefirst quarter of 2019 comes to an end.

Goldprices are looking to close the week in negative territory, ending a three-weekwinning streak. Despite a strong rally at the start of the new year, for thequarter, the yellow metal is eking out a modest gain, up 1.3%.

Accordingto analysts, although the precious metal is supported by falling bond yields,it continues to struggle against resilient strength in equity markets and theU.S. dollar;however, some analysts continue to look past near-term U.S. dollar strength asthreats to the economy continue to build.

MikeMcGlone, senior commodity strategist at Bloomberg Intelligence, said that heexpects weaker equity markets to signal an end to the dollar’s rally.

“Weexpect last year's strong dollar performance to have marked a last gasp for thebull market, and for the greenback to remain near the bottom of 2019performers, which is primarily supportive of metals,” he wrote in a reportFriday.

Ina recent interview with Kitco News, Axel Merk, president and chief investmentofficer of Merk Investments said that a lot of the recent price action in goldcan be chalked up to quarter-end positioning. He added that long-term, therecent drop in 10-year bond yields remains gold supportive.

Althoughgold could remain volatile in the near-term, Merk added that last week’s dovishmove from the Federal Reserve, raises the risk for higher inflation pressures,another long-term positive factor for gold.