WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Gold prices climbed higher on Friday as the dollar lost ground after data showing a bigger than expected slowdown in consumer price growth added to optimism the Fed will start cutting interest rates early next year.
The dollar index dropped to 101.43 in early New York session. However, it recovered subsequently to 101.73, cutting down its loss to just around 0.11%.
Gold futures for February ended higher by $17.80 at $2,069.10 an ounce, the highest settlement since December 1.
Silver futures for March ended down $0.020 at $24.565 an ounce, while Copper futures for March settled at $3.9050 per pound, down $0.0125 from the previous close.
Data from the Commerce Department said the annual rate of consumer price growth decelerated to 2.6% in November from a downwardly revised 2.9% in October. Economists had expected the pace of price growth to slow to 2.8% from the 3% originally reported for the previous month.
The annual rate of growth by core consumer prices, which exclude food and energy prices, also slowed to 3.2% in November from a downwardly revised 3.4% in October. Economists had expected core consumer price growth to decelerate to 3.3% from the 3.5% originally reported for the previous month.
The readings on inflation, which are said to be preferred by the Federal Reserve, were included in the Commerce Department's report on personal income and spending.
The bigger than expected slowdown in consumer price growth has added to optimism the Fed is poised to pivot to cutting interest rates early next year.
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