Gold breathes a sigh of relief awaiting the US inflation indicator after a week full of gains
Gold prices fell in early trading on Friday, affected by the rise of the US dollar, which gained strength due to better-than-expected US economic data. This rise, in turn, pressured investors' expectations regarding the timing of the Federal Reserve's (the US central bank) interest rate cuts.
In detail, the price of gold in the spot market dropped by 0.2% to reach $3741.71 per ounce by 00:33 GMT. Meanwhile, December gold futures settled at $3772.20. This slight decline comes in the context of a positive weekly trend for the precious metal, as it remains on track to achieve weekly gains of about 1.7%, especially after touching a record level of $3790.82 last Tuesday.
The dollar index maintains its trading near a three-week high, which reflects on the cost of gold for investors outside the United States, as it becomes more expensive when converting their currencies to dollars.
Analysts attribute this climate to strong economic data, as figures released yesterday showed a decline in weekly unemployment claims and faster-than-expected growth of the US economy in the second quarter, supported by strong consumer spending and an increase in business investments.
The market is now closely awaiting the Personal Consumption Expenditures Price Index data, a key measure of inflation, scheduled to be announced at 12:30 GMT. Reuters' survey forecasts that the index will record a monthly increase of 0.3% and a yearly increase of 2.7% for August, in a crucial indicator for future monetary policy directions.
In a related context, other precious metals showed mixed trading; silver fell by 0.7% to $44.92 per ounce, while platinum rose by 0.6% to $1538.15, and palladium increased by 0.5% to $1255.72. Despite these daily movements, all are heading towards recording weekly gains.
