WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Gold futures snapped a four-day losing streak on Tuesday, as the dollar weakened ahead of some crucial U.S. economic data, including a report on personal income and spending in the month of April. Rising tensions in the Middle East contributed as well to the yellow metal's rally.
The dollar index dropped to 104.34 in the European session. However, it regained lost ground as the day progressed and was last seen at 104.56, down just marginally from the previous close.
Gold futures for May ended higher by $22.70 or nearly 1% at $2,355.20 an ounce, the largest single session gain in both dollar and percentage terms in nearly two weeks.
Silver futures for May ended up by $1.641 or about 5.4% at $31.971 an ounce, the largest one day gain in dollar terms since February 2021.
Copper futures climbed to $4.8595 per pound, gaining $0.1060 or about 2.25%.
The report on personal income and spending, due on Friday, includes readings on inflation said to be preferred by the Federal Reserve.
The inflation data could have a significant impact on the outlook for interest rates ahead of the Fed's next monetary policy meeting on June 11-12.
In an interview with CNBC this morning, Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari said he needs to see 'many more months of positive inflation data' before he would consider cutting interest rates.
Kashkari, who does not have a vote on the rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee this year, also said he could not rule out raising interest rates if inflation fails to slow.
In U.S. economic news today, the Conference Board released a report unexpectedly showing a significant improvement in consumer confidence in the month of May.
The Conference Board said its consumer confidence index jumped to 102.0 in May from an upwardly revised 97.5 in April.
The rebound surprised economists, who had expected the consumer confidence index to decrease to 95.3 from the 97.0 originally reported for the previous month.
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