Gold trades deep in negative territory below $2,170 on Friday as the persistent USD strength doesn't allow XAU/USD to benefit from declining bond yields. The pair still looks to post small weekly gains after having pulled away from the record high it set above $2,220 on Wednesday. The Federal Reserve announced their latest monetary policy statement yesterday alongside the summary of economic projections. The immediate takeaways from the announcement include the Fed sticking with the original, three interest rate cuts this year alongside upward revisions to both inflation and growth.