Gold futures experienced a modest decline on Thursday following four consecutive days of gains, as traders eagerly awaited a speech from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell scheduled for Friday.
The day prior, a significant drop in bond yields in both Europe and the United States triggered a sharp rise in prices for the most-active gold contract since the beginning of August.
Here are the latest figures:
- Gold futures for December delivery (GC00, -0.26% GCZ23, -0.26%) fell by $2.50, or 0.1%, to reach $1,945 per ounce on Comex.
- Silver futures for September delivery (SI00, -0.62% SIU23, -0.62%) declined by 15 cents, or 0.6%, to settle at $24.25 per ounce.
- October platinum (PL00, -0.43% PLV23, -0.43%) saw a decrease of $6, or 0.6%, reaching $932 per ounce, while September palladium (PA00, -1.28% PAU23, -1.28%) dipped by $3.90, or 0.3%, to $1,277.50 per ounce.
- Copper prices for December delivery (HGU23, -0.88%) experienced a drop of 3 cents, or 0.8%, ending at $3.80 per pound.
Although gold prices initially benefitted from the decline in European and U.S. bond yields on Wednesday, which reached their lowest levels in a week, the yellow metal experienced a modest pullback on Thursday with the rise of yields once again. Additionally, the stronger U.S. dollar exerted downward pressure on gold.
Marios Hadjikyriacos, senior investment analyst at XM, mentioned in an email commentary that “Gold was one of the main beneficiaries of the breakdown in real yields and the ensuing retreat in the dollar.”
On Thursday, the yield on the 10-year Treasury note (BX:TMUBMUSD10Y) increased by 4 basis points to 4.223%. Meanwhile, the ICE U.S. Dollar Index (DXY), a measure of the strength of the greenback against other major currencies, rose by 0.3% to reach 103.72.