Gold falls for 2nd week as US yields rebound. Where’s it headed next?
gold closed with a gain of 0.46% at $2,013 on Friday, however, despite this the metal closed nearly 0.50% lower on the week, which is its second straight weekly loss.
The ten-year US yields at 4.28% were up around 2.50% on the week, whereas the US Dollar Index was up around 0.15% on the week as it closed at 104.28.
Inflation likely to be back in focus
The US PPI data released Friday came in hotter than expected as stripping out food and energy costs, the core PPI surged 0.5%, topping the anticipated 0.1% gain; the PPI excluding food, energy, and trade services rose 0.6%, the largest one-month rise since January 2023. Rise in the PPI inflation data was driven by a jump in final demand services, which rose 0.60%, thus nullifying the impact of a 0.20% decline in goods prices. Housing starts fell 14.80% in January Vs the expectation of no change. University of Michigan consumer sentiment rose to 79.60 in February from 79 in January, although the data trailed the forecast of 80, it reached a multi-year high. University of Michigan one-year and five-year inflation expectations came in at 3% and 2.90% respectively, which were a tad higher than their respective estimates.
The US CPI inflation data (January), released earlier in the week, were hotter than expected across the board. The US CPI was up 0.3% m-o-m Vs the estimate of 0.2%, though the prior data was revised lower to 0.20% from 0.30%. Core CPI, which excludes food and energy, rose 0.4% Vs an estimate of 0.3%. CPI rose 3.1% in January on a y-o-y basis as against
