WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Gold prices fell on Thursday as the dollar stayed fairly steady again amid bets the U.S. central bank will keep interest rates higher for longer than previously thought.
The minutes of the Federal Reserve's most recent policy meeting said policymakers discussed a further tightening of interest rates if inflation remained sticky.
The dollar index advanced to 105.06, gaining 0.11%.
Gold futures for May ended down by $54.20 or about 2.3% at $2,335.00 an ounce, recording the biggest single-day decline in percentage terms. The settlement figure was the lowest in about two weeks.
Silver futures for May settled lower by $1.0110 or about 3.2% at $30.284 an ounce, while Copper futures dropped to around $4.7900, down $0.0585 or about 1.3%.
The Fed meeting minutes showed officials were disappointed in recent inflation data and believed 'disinflation would likely take longer than previously thought.'
With the minutes signaling rates are likely to remain higher for longer than previously expected, the chances rates will be lower by September have fallen to 57.3%, according to CME Group's FedWatch Tool.
Adding to the rate concerns, the Labor Department released a report this morning showing first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits fell by more than expected in the week ended May 18th.
The Labor Department said initial jobless claims slid to 215,000, a decrease of 8,000 from the previous week's revised level of 223,000. Economists had expected jobless claims to edge down to 220,000 from the 222,000 originally reported for the previous week.
While a section of analysts are of the view that there will be a couple of cuts this year, Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon said he did not expect any rate cuts in 2024.
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