Gold prices witnessed a clear decline during Friday’s trading, losing more than $23 of its value, to currently trade below $2,500 per ounce again, coinciding with the strength of the US dollar index.
Performance of spot and futures gold contracts:
In terms of trading, gold futures for December delivery fell by 1.26%, or $32.3 per ounce, to trade near $2,528 per ounce. Spot gold futures also fell by 0.93%, or $23.4, to trade near $2,497 per ounce.
What are the reasons for the decline in gold prices at the end of the week?
Gold prices declined due to strong negative pressures during trading, coinciding with the strength of the US dollar index (which measures the performance of the US currency against about 6 major currencies), which witnessed a noticeable recovery in trading, as the US dollar index rose by 0.39% and stabilized near the 101.74 point level.
The dollar clearly benefited from the positivity of some US economic data released today, most notably the Chicago Purchasing Managers Index, which recorded a very positive reading. The index reading was better than market expectations during the current month of August, recording 46.1 points, and the reading was much better than expectations, which indicated that the index would record around 45.5 points.
Gold prices also declined against the backdrop of rising US bond yields, as the 10-year bond yield rose by 1.31% to around 3.910%, while the 20-year US bond yield rose by 1.02% to around 4.289%. The 30-year US bond yield also rose by 1.18% to settle near 4.200%. This rise in bond yields clearly put pressure on gold prices.
Other metals contracts:
As for other metals trading, silver futures for December delivery fell by 2.69% and settled near $29,190, while platinum futures for October delivery fell by 1.77% and recorded around $929.25.
Meanwhile, palladium futures fell by 1.49% to $961.35 per ounce. Likewise, copper futures for December delivery fell by 0.17% to $4.245 per pound.
