WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Despite a weak dollar, gold futures settled lower on Friday amid concerns the Federal Reserve will hold interest rates higher for longer.
The dollar index dropped to 104.64 a little past noon, losing nearly 0.5%.
Gold futures for May ended lower by $2.50 or about 0.1% at $2,332.50 an ounce. Gold futures shed about 3.3% in the week.
Silver futures for May settled higher by $0.046 or about 0.15% at $30.330 an ounce. Silver futures lost about 2.3% in the week.
Copper futures dropped to around $4.7565 per pound, down $0.0360 or nearly 0.75%.
Demand for the yellow metal dropped a bit today as robust U.S. economic data released overnight stoked concerns about sticky inflation and the Federal Reserve's rate path.
U.S. business activity grew at its fastest pace in more than two years in May and weekly jobless claims fell by more than anticipated last week, piling pressure on the Federal Reserve to hold interest rates higher for longer.
After the release of these readings, traders pushed back the timing for the first full quarter-point Federal Reserve interest-rate cut to December from November earlier.
Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic said on Thursday that there is still considerable upward pressure on prices and the U.S. central bank may need to wait longer to cut interest rates.
In economic releases today, a report from the Commerce Department showed durable goods orders climbed by 0.7% in April following a downwardly revised 0.8% advance in March. Economists had expected durable goods orders to decrease by 0.8% compared to the 2.6% surge originally reported for the previous month.
A separate report released by the University of Michigan showed consumer sentiment in the U.S. deteriorated slightly less than previously estimated in the month of May.
The report said the consumer sentiment index for May was upwardly revised to 69.1 from the preliminary reading of 67.4. Economists had expected the index to be unrevised. Despite the upward revision, the consumer sentiment index still fell sharply from 77.2 in April, slumping to its lowest level since hitting 61.3 last November.
Meanwhile, the report showed year-ahead inflation expectations increased by much less than previously estimated, inching up to 3.3 percent in May from 3.2 percent in April.
The University of Michigan had previously reported year-ahead inflation expectations jumped to 3.5 percent, although the downwardly revised figure still represents the highest level since hitting 4.5 percent last November.
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