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Gold prices were marginally higher on Friday, ending the week in an upward trend, and partly regaining ground lost earlier in the week.
Prices spent most of the morning at around $2,005 an ounce, and barring a brief drop to $1,995 an ounce, prices held their ground to trade at $2,005 to $2,010 by late afternoon.
The modest gains followed a strong day on Thursday when gold rebounded from Wednesday’s intra-week low of $1,985 an ounce.
US producer prices were released Friday showing an increase of 0.3% in January, larger than the market’s expected 0.1% rise. And core PPI figures, which exclude food and energy, which tend to be volatile, showed a larger rise of 0.5%, versus market expectations of a 0.1% increase. Inflation figures matter because they add pressure on central banks to maintain higher rates for longer, a negative factor for non-interest-bearing assets like gold.
Gold’s sudden drop below $2,000 coincided with the release of the US stats in the early afternoon, although prices quickly rebounded to end marginally higher day-on-day.
Looking ahead, Tuesday will see the release of monthly inflation data from Canada, while eyes will also be on Wednesday’s US Fed FOMC minutes for further clues about potential interest rate trajectories. The Fed’s next meetings are scheduled for March 20 and May 1. Data from interest rate traders points to a roughly 35% probability of a 25-basis point cut in rates at the May meeting.
Frank’s experience covering the commodities markets spans 22 years, with a particular specialism in metals, carbon and energy markets. He has worked as a senior editor for S&P Global Commodity Insights (formerly Platts) and before this, at ICIS-LOR, a part of Reed Business Information (Reed Elsevier), where he covered the petrochemicals markets from 2003 to 2005.
