WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Gold futures settled lower on Wednesday, extending recent losses, as the dollar climbed up amid bets the Federal Reserve will hold interest rates higher for longer in order to contain inflation.
Gold prices climbed higher earlier in the day on dollar's weakness and concerns over China's economic slowdown, and prospect of a possible downgrade of several U.S. lenders by Fitch Ratings.
The dollar index, which dropped to 102.94 in the Asian session, climbed to 103.39 later on in the day, and was trading at 103.35 a little while ago, gaining about 0.13%.
Gold futures for December ended lower by $6.90 at $1,928.30 an ounce.
Silver futures for September ended down $0.121 at $22.535 an ounce, while Copper futures for September settled at $3.6575 per pound, down $0.0100 from the previous close.
In economic news, industrial production in the U.S. fell by 0.2% in July, extending the 0.4% drop in the previous month.
Manufacturing production in the U.S. decreased 0.7% in July, compared to the same month last year.
Another data said building permits in the U.S. edged up 0.1% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.442 million in July. Meanwhile, housing starts rose by 3.9% month-on-month to a seasonally adjusted annualized rae of 1.452 million in July.
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