WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Gold prices fell on Wednesday, drifting down for a second straight day, as the dollar gained in strength amid political uncertainty and hawkish comments from some Fed officials.
On Tuesday, Federal Reserve governor Michelle Bowman has warned of upside risks to the inflation outlook and reiterated the need to keep borrowing costs elevated 'for some time'.
Bowman's counterpart Lisa Cook said that the timing of any rate adjustment will depend on how economic data evolve and what they imply for the economic outlook and balance of risks.
The dollar index climbed to 106.13, before easing to around 106.00, still trading nearly 0.4% up from the previous close.
Gold futures for June ended down by $17.40 or about 0.75% at $2,299.20 an ounce.
Silver futures June settled higher by $0.072 or about 0.25% at $28.909 an ounce, while Copper futures gained $0.0065 or 0.15% at $4.3775 per pound.
Amid much uncertainty about the interest-rate outlook, investors braced for the release of key U.S. inflation reading, due later this week for further direction.
In economic news today, a report released by the Commerce Department showed new home sales in the U.S. saw a substantial decrease in the month of May, plunging by 11.3 percent to an annual rate of 619,000, after jumping by 2.0 percent to a revised rate of 698,000 in April.
Economists had expected new home sales to rise to an annual rate of 640,000 from the 634,000 originally reported for the previous month.
Meanwhile, building permits in the U.S. fell by 2.8 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.399 million in May, revised higher from a preliminary estimate of 1.386 million.
Copyright(c) 2024 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX
© 2024 AFX News
