NEW YORK (Reuters) – Recent appreciations of the dollar and gold are “anomalies” and the greenback should not be so strong due to the U.S. deficit, Co-Chief Investment Officer at Bridgewater Associates Karen Karniol-Tambour said on Wednesday.

The U.S. dollar index is up roughly 3% this year.

A Reuters poll showed a strong U.S. dollar will maintain the status quo in the near term, as markets brace for the possibility the Federal Reserve’s first interest rate cut gets delayed to the second half of this year.Gold should only follow the appreciation of the dollar, not go up more than the greenback shot, Karniol-Tambour also said during comments at the Sohn Conference in New York.

Geopolitical fears could explain the metal’s price high prices, she added. Gold price has risen 11.5% so far this year, to $2,299.17 per ounce. The metal reached a record high on Wednesday, after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell reiterated that recent readings on job gains and higher than expected inflation do not materially change the overall picture of economic policy this year.Karniol-Tambour said she favors U.S. stocks over bonds, but did not elaborate on the reasons.

(Reporting by Carolina Mandl; editing by Costas Pitas)