Gold Futures Settle Slightly Lower As Dollar Rebounds

Gold futures failed to hold early gains and settled modestly lower on Wednesday as the dollar climbed higher, rebounding from recent losses, and bond yields moved up a bit.

The dollar index surged to 104.51 before paring some gains but still remained firm at 104.40, up from the previous close of 104.05.

Gold futures for December ended down $2.20 at $1,964.30 an ounce, coming off the day’s high of $1,979.20.

Silver futures for December ended higher by $0.406 at $23.538 an ounce, while Copper futures for December settled at $3.7360 per pound, gaining $0.0335.

Tamer-than-expected U.S. consumer price inflation data, a sharp drop in U.K. inflation, and lower inflation numbers from Germany and France helped limit gold’s downside.

Data released by the Labor Department this morning showed an unexpected decrease in U.S. producer prices in the month of October.

The Labor Department said its producer price index fell by 0.5% in October after rising by a revised 0.4% in September. Producer prices were expected to inch up by 0.1% compared to the 0.5% increase originally reported for the previous month.

The report also said the annual rate of producer price growth slowed to 1.3% in October from 2.2% in September. Economists had expected the pace of price growth to slow to 1.9%.

Following yesterday’s tamer than expected consumer price inflation data, the latest report has reinforced expectations that the Federal Reserve is done raising interest rates.

Meanwhile, a report released by the Commerce Department showed retail sales in the U.S. edged slightly lower in the month of October, dropping by 0.1% in the month, after jumping by an upwardly revised 0.9% in September.

Economists had expected retail sales to dip by 0.3% compared to the 0.7% increase originally reported for the previous month.

Excluding a decrease in sales by motor vehicle and parts dealers, retail sales inched up by 0.1% in October after climbing by 0.8% in September. Ex-auto sales were expected to come in unchanged.

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