WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Gold prices rose to fresh record high on Thursday as soft inflation data raised hopes of a series of interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve, starting this month.
The dollar's weakness supported the yellow metal. The dollar index dropped to 101.42, losing about 0.25%.
Gold futures for September ended up by $39.10 or about 1.56% at $2,551.20 an ounce.
Silver futures for September settled at $29.743 an ounce, gaining $1.1800 or about 4.13%.
Copper futures for September climbed to 4.1320, gaining $0.0490 or about 1.15%.
The U.S. Labor Department said its producer price index for final demand crept up by 0.2% in August, while revised data showed prices were unchanged in July.
Economists had expected producer prices to inch up by 0.1%, matching the uptick originally reported for the previous month.
While the data has seemingly reduced the likelihood the Federal Reserve will cut rates by 50 basis points next week, rates are still expected to be notably lower by the end of the year.
At the same time, the report said the annual rate of producer price growth slowed to 1.7 percent in August from a downwardly revised 2.1 percent in July.
The year-over-year increase by producer prices was expected to decelerate to 1.8 percent from the 2.2 percent originally reported for the previous month.
CME Group's FedWatch Tool currently suggests rates will lower by at least a full percentage point following the Fed's December meeting.
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