Gold close to breaking below $1,900, copper pressured by China woes

Investing.com -- Gold prices were flat on Wednesday and were on the cusp of falling below key levels, while copper prices hit a two-month low as fears of a Chinese economic slowdown and rising interest rates boosted the dollar.

U.S. retail sales data released on Tuesday showed that consumer spending remained robust in the country, potentially indicating more inflationary pressures in the coming months.

This notion, coupled with worsening risk sentiment amid signs of a Chinese economic slowdown, saw investors pile into the dollar in lieu of safe havens such as gold and precious metals.

Spot prices of the yellow metal briefly broke below the $1,900 an ounce level on Tuesday, and were now trading just above a near two-month low.

Spot gold was flat at $1,902.24 an ounce, while gold futures expiring December fell 0.1% to $1,933.40 an ounce by 20:19 ET (00:19 GMT).

U.S. rate outlook pressures gold

Tuesday’s retail sales data came just a few days after stronger inflation readings for July, and pointed to a hawkish near-term outlook for the Federal Reserve.

The central bank has warned that interest rates could rise further from over 20-year highs if inflation remains sticky. Such a scenario bodes poorly for non-yielding assets such as gold and other metals, given that it pushes up their opportunity cost.

This notion also saw investors largely favor the dollar and Treasuries as a safe haven over gold, as risk appetite worsened amid worsening economic conditions across most of the globe, particularly in China.

The greenback steadied near a 1-½ month high on Wednesday, having recovered sharply from 2023 lows over the past month.

Even if the Fed doesn’t raise interest rates further, it is still expected to keep them at over 20-year highs until at least mid-2024, presenting a weak outlook for non-yielding assets.

Copper hit by more China woes

Among industrial metals, copper prices were pressured by more weak economic indicators from China, as the world’s largest importer struggles with slowing growth and disinflation.

Copper futures hovered at $3.36603 a pound and were close to their weakest levels in two months.

Data on Tuesday showed that both Chinese retail sales and industrial production grew much less than expected in July, capping off a series of weak economic readings for the month as a post-COVID recovery ran out of steam.

While the country unexpectedly cut key lending rates after the data, persistent fears of a property market meltdown also inspired little optimism towards China, especially amid concerns over a debt default by property giant Country Garden Holdings (HK:2007).