Gold performed really well in the first quarter of 2017. As the chart below shows, the rally started at the end of December 2016. The yellow metal bottomed at $1,125.7 on December 20, just a few days after the FOMC meeting and the second interest rate hike for almost a decade. Since then, the shiny metal gained about 11 percent.

Chart 1: The price of gold in U.S. dollars in 2017 (London P.M. Fix).

As one can see below, the price of gold expressed in euros and British pounds developed in a similar way to the U.S. dollar-denominated price. However, on a relative basis, the price of gold gained more in the greenback than in these two currencies (the bullion gained about 7 percent in euros and almost 11 percent in the British pound since the December lows), which seems to reflect an appreciation of the common currency against the U.S. dollar.

Chart 2: The price of gold in the U.S. dollar (yellow line), the euro (red line) and the British pound (green line) in 2017 (London P.M. Fix).

Indeed, the greenback was one of the main drivers of the gold prices in the third quarter of 2017. As usual, there was a strong negative correlation between these two safe-haven assets, as the chart below shows.

Chart 3: The price of gold (yellow line, left axis, P.M. London Fix) and the U.S. dollar index (red line, right axis, Trade Weighted Broad U.S. Dollar Index) in 2017.

After the December Fed hike the U.S. dollar surged while the price of gold bottomed out. However, as investors called the Fed hawkishness into question, the greenback declined, while the yellow metal shined. Other important drivers of the rally and dollar weakness were uncertainty about Trump’s policies and comments from Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin that the American currency is too strong. In March, gold went south, while the greenback jumped, anticipating the next hike at the FOMC meeting. Indeed, we saw a classic “sell the rumor, buy the fact” scenario in the gold market (with a “buy the rumor, sell the fact” scenario in the U.S. dollar), as the expectations surrounding a rate hike were actually much worse than the actual hike.