Gold prices on Thursday saw their biggest drop in nearly two months while snapping a five-day winning streak as a surging U.S. dollar weighed on precious metal prices.
Price action
-
Gold for December delivery
GC00,
-0.04% GCZ23,
-0.04%
fell by $27.50, or 1.4%, to settle at $1,939.60 an ounce on Comex, That marked the biggest percentage-point decline for a most-active gold contract since Aug. 1, according to Dow Jones Market Data. -
December silver
SI00,
-0.10% SIZ23,
-0.10%
declined by 15 cents, or 0.6%, to settle at $23.69 per ounce. -
October platinum
PLV23,
-0.10%
declined by $17.70, or 1.9%, to $924 per ounce, while December palladium
PAZ23,
+0.07%
fell by $11.8, or 0.9%, to $1,269 per ounce. -
Copper for December
HGZ23,
-0.05%
shed 8 cents, or 2.1%, to $3.70 per pound.
Market drivers
The U.S. dollar continued to climb on Thursday, driven by the Federal Reserve’s projections showing it intends to keep its policy interest rate above 5% through 2024.
In addition to weighing on U.S. equity futures, the rise in the dollar pushed gold prices sharply lower. The ICE U.S. Dollar Index
DXY
surged 0.1% to 105.31, its highest level in more than six months.
“The Fed’s hawkish hold didn’t prove too popular with gold bulls either despite some apparent optimism ahead of the release. Gold rallied toward $1,950 in the run-up to the decision, in line with the highs from earlier this month, before giving all of the day’s pre-release gains back and ending it in the red,” said Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at OANDA, in emailed commentary.
“It’s trading a little lower once more and, depending on how seriously traders are taking the Fed’s dot plot, could be at risk of testing last week’s lows around $1,900.”
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