WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Gold futures settled slightly lower on Friday as the dollar firmed against major counterparts amid uncertainty about outlook for interest rates.
Dollar surged on comments from Federal Reserve Governor Michelle Bowman that policy rate will need to remain sufficiently restrictive for some time to bring inflation down and create conditions that will support a sustainably strong labor market.
Signs of growing stress in the U.S. banking sector and the impasses over the U.S. debt ceiling also helped spur safe-haven demand for the dollar.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has warned that a default on the U.S. debt would be catastrophic and was 'unthinkable'.
The dollar index surged 102.71, gaining about 0.65%.
Gold futures for June ended down $0.70 at $2,019.80 an ounce. Gold futures shed about 0.3% in the week.
Silver futures for July ended lower by $0.270 at $24.154 an ounce, while Copper futures settled at $3.7285 per pound, gaining $0.0185.
A report from the University of Michigan showing U.S. consumer sentiment deteriorated by much more than anticipated in the month of May.
The report said the consumer sentiment index tumbled to 57.7 in May from 63.5 in April, while economists had expected the index to edge down to 63.0.
With the much bigger than expected decrease, the consumer sentiment index slumped to its lowest level since hitting 56.8 last November.
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