Gold prices steady after steep fall

Friday,   12-Apr-2019   08:59 AM (IST)

Gold prices steadied on Friday, having posted their biggest daily decline in two weeks in the previous session after robust U.S. economic data lifted the dollar. Spot gold was up about 0.1 percent at $1,293.19 per ounce as of 0123 GMT, after slipping more than one percent on Thursday. For the week, gold is up about 0.1 percent, on track to eke out its first weekly gain in three. U.S. gold futures gained about 0.3 percent at $1,296.60 an ounce. The dollar held firm on Friday after strong U.S. labour and inflation data soothed concerns about the world’s largest economy, while falling oil prices weighed on commodity-linked currencies such as the Canadian and Australian dollars. The number of Americans filing applications for unemployment benefits fell to a 49-1/2-year low last week, pointing to sustained labor market strength that could temper expectations of a sharp slowdown in economic growth. U.S. producer prices increased by the most in five months in March, but underlying wholesale inflation was tame. U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday expressed a willingness to hold a third summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un but said in talks with South Korean President Moon Jae-in that Washington would leave sanctions in place on Pyongyang. European Union countries gave initial clearance on Thursday to start formal trade talks with the United States, EU sources said, a move designed but not guaranteed to smooth strained relations between the world’s two largest economies. The six-month delay of Britain’s exit from the European Union avoids the “terrible outcome” of a “no-deal” Brexit that would further pressure a slowing global economy but does nothing to lift uncertainty over the final outcome, the head of the International Monetary Fund said on Thursday. Global silver demand rose 4 percent last year, chalking up its first increase since 2015 thanks to sharply higher consumption in India, with a supply fall creating a small deficit, an industry report said on Thursday. South Africa’s total mining output fell 7.5 percent year-on-year in February compared to a contraction of 3.3 in January, Statistics South Africa said on Thursday.