Gold futures settled under $2,000 an ounce on Tuesday for the first time in more than two weeks, with prices marking their fourth loss in five sessions after failing earlier this month to reach a fresh record high.
Price action
-
Gold futures for June delivery
GC00,
-0.38% GCM23,
-0.38%
declined by $29.70, or 1.5%, to settle at $1,993 per ounce on Comex, the lowest finish for a most-active contract since May 1, FactSet data show. Prices had marked a settlement high of $2,055.70 on May 4, the second-highest finish on record. -
July silver
SI00,
+0.22% SIN23,
+0.22%
shed 40 cents, or 1.6%, to $23.89 per ounce. -
June palladium
PAM23,
-0.77%
shed $30.70, or 2%, to $1,499.60 per ounce, while July platinum
PLN23,
+1.23%
shed $7.80, or 0.7%, to $1,066.90 per ounce. -
Copper for July delivery
HGN23,
+2.33%
declined by 8 cents, or 2.2%, to $3.67 per pound, the lowest finish since late November.
Market drivers
Gold prices finished Tuesday’s session under $2,000 after failed attempts this week to reach their highest settlement on record. Prices have settled under that key level only twice so far this month.
Prices have declined as investors brace for a key meeting between President Joe Biden and key lawmakers to resolve the debt ceiling stalemate, said Lukman Otunuga, manager of market analysis at FXTM.
The precious metal is “likely to draw support from the growing fears and jitters around the threat of a potential default,” he said in emailed commentary. “Expect gold prices to be also influenced by global growth fears and expectations around the Federal Reserve’s next policy move.”
For now, gold remains “trapped within a very wide range on the daily charts,” he said. Should $2,000 prove to be unreliable support, prices may sink toward $1,970. However, a rebound from $2,000 could “open a path back” toward $2,015 and $2,032, respectively.
The yellow metal has turned a bit lower for the month, but clings to a gain year to date, supported by a weaker U.S. dollar and worries about a potential recession in the U.S.
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Meanwhile, copper futures fell by more than 2% Tuesday to their lowest finish since November, with weaker-than-expected economic data from China dulling the demand outlook for industrial metals.
Retail sales, a key metric for China’s consumption, rose 18.4% from a year earlier in April, but that was below the2 0.5% growth expected by economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal, according to Dow Jones Newswires.
The weaker numbers out of China have knocked copper prices lower, “sending them to their lowest levels since last November, said Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets UK.
Silver and copper futures had fallen sharply on Thursday after ‘benign’ China inflation data.
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