Gold Futures Settle Lower As Dollar Rises

Gold futures settled lower on Tuesday as the dollar moved up and bond yields rose amid bets the Federal Reserve will likely keep interest rates higher for a longer period to control inflation.

The dollar index surged to 102.80 and despite dropping to around 102.55, remains firm up with a gain of about 0.5%.

Gold futures for December ended lower by $10.10 at $1,959.90 an ounce.

Silver futures for September ended down $0.425 at $22.807 an ounce, while Copper futures for September settled at $3.7665 per pound, down $0.0685 from the previous close.

In U.S. economic news, data from the Commerce Department showed the U.S. trade deficit narrowed in the month of June.

The report said the trade deficit shrank to $65.5 billion in June from a revised $68.3 billion in May. Economists had expected the trade deficit to decrease to $65.0 billion from the $69.0 billion originally reported for the previous month.

The narrower trade deficit came as the value of imports slid by 1.0 percent to $313.0 billion, while the value of exports edged down by 0.1 percent to$247.5 billion.

Wholesale inventories in the United States were down 0.5% from a month earlier in June 2023, compared to the preliminary estimate of a 0.3% decrease and following an upwardly revised 0.4% fall in the prior month.
Meanwhile, data showed China experienced a notable downturn in its trade figures in July.

Chinese exports fell 14.5 percent from a year earlier in July, while imports tumbled 12.5 percent in a sign of weak overseas and domestic demand.

Meanwhile, amid much uncertainty over the Federal Reserve’s next move, investors awaited U.S. consumer price inflation and producer price inflation readings this week for directional cues.

Economists expect Thursday’s data to show U.S. consumer prices rose by 3.3 percent in July over a year ago, an acceleration from June.

Source: Read Full Article