The gold price briefly rallied in early trading on Friday on the back of weak US data but has since given up its gains as investors gear up for next week’s interest rate decision from the US Federal Reserve.

At 3.07pm (AEDT) gold was trading at $1,314 an ounce virtually unchanged from yesterday’s trading.

Disappointing retail sales figures out of the US which came in at -0.3 percent against analysts’ expectations for a number of -0.1 percent initially supported the gold price but the rally was soon halted as other factors came into play

The precious metal has benefited for the past 3 months on the back of global uncertainty and especially Britain’s decision to leave the Eurozone but fears have largely subsided which is weighing on the gold price overall.

Next week’s interest rate decision from the US Federal reserve is also expected to keep a lid on the price with a wild swing expected in either direction depending on the outcome,

.“The gold price will remain under pressure in the short term, partly because investor expectations are already very high and partly because financial market participants are not feeling any particular fear at present,” Commerzbank said.

Later in the trading session the market will await consumer price index figures from the US which is expected to create volatility in the gold price and may shed light on whether the fed will lift interest rates next week.