WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Gold futures settled higher on Friday, and recorded their third straight week of gains, amid continued uncertainty about the pace of global economic recovery due to the surge in coronavirus variants in several parts of the world.
Gold gained as Treasuries halted an eight-day rally fueled by concerns about global growth. U.S. 10-year Treasury yields were up nearly 4 bps after having fallen 14 basis points in the first four days of the week.
The dollar's weakness supported the yellow metal. The dollar index dropped to 92.16, down nearly 0.3% from the previous close.
Gold futures for August ended up by $10.40 or about 0.6% at $1,810.60 an ounce. Gold futures gained a little more than 1.5% in the holiday-shortened week.
Silver futures for September ended higher by $0.247 or about 1% at $26.234 an ounce, while Copper futures for September settled at $4.3455 per pound, gaining $0.0810 or nearly 2%.
In U.S. economic news today, wholesale inventories increased by more than expected in the month of May, according to a report released by the Commerce Department.
The report said wholesale inventories surged up by 1.3% in May after jumping by an upwardly revised 1.1% in April. Economists had expected wholesale inventories to jump by 1.1% compared to the 0.8% increase that had been reported for the previous month.
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