Gold at 1-mth low, copper steadies ahead of U.S. CPI

Investing.com -- Gold prices hovered at one-month lows on Thursday, while copper prices steadied after steep losses as markets hunkered down ahead of key U.S. inflation data due later in the day.

The yellow metal was trading down substantially over the past week, having come under pressure from a stronger dollar and rising yields. Worsening risk appetite also pushed traders towards the dollar, as investors bet on that U.S. interest rates will remain higher for longer this year.

Spot gold rose 0.1% to $1,916.34 an ounce, while gold futures fell 0.1% to $1,948.85 an ounce by 20:09 ET (00:09 GMT). Both instruments were down about 1.3% so far this week.

U.S. CPI expected to rise in July

A bulk of gold’s losses were driven by expectations that U.S. consumer price index inflation rose slightly in July, remaining sticky and well above the Federal Reserve’s target range.

Any signs of sticky inflation give the Fed more impetus to keep rates high and policy tight, which bodes poorly for non-yielding assets such as gold.

Expectations of a higher CPI reading also boosted the dollar, making it a preferred destination for safe haven plays, over gold. The greenback was trading near five-week highs, while 10-year U.S. Treasury yields were trading close to 2023 highs.

Some Fed officials also called for more interest rate hikes earlier this week, citing stubborn inflation. The central bank has said that it will potentially raise interest rates at least once more this year.

The bank is also expected to keep rates higher for longer, which dents the prospect of any major gains in gold this year. High interest rates push up the opportunity cost of investing in gold and other non-yielding assets.

Other precious metals were also nursing steep losses for the week. Platinum was down nearly 4%, while silver dropped 4.1%.

Copper under pressure from weak Chinese data

Among industrial metals, copper futures fell 0.1% to $3.7822 a pound on Thursday, and were trading down 2.2% for the week.

The red metal was battered by a string of weak economic readings from top importer China, which showed that a post-COVID rebound worsened in July after a weak second quarter.

China’s consumer prices slipped into deflation, while both imports and exports in the country shrank much more than expected in July. The country’s copper imports also contracted last month.

Weakness in the world’s largest copper importer pushed up concerns over slowing demand for the red metal, especially as economic conditions worsen across the globe.