Gold Little Changed With Markets Calm
May 25 2018 - 3:11PM
Dow Jones News
By Amrith Ramkumar and David Hodari
Gold prices swung between small gains and losses before closing
slightly lower Friday, hurt by a stronger dollar but benefiting
from a continued drop in Treasury yields.
Front-month gold for May delivery closed down less than 0.1%, at
$1,303.30 a troy ounce, on the Comex division of the New York
Mercantile Exchange. Prices surged back above $1,300 on Thursday
after President Donald Trump canceled a summit with North Korean
leader Kim Jong Un, with the news prompting some safe-haven
buying.
But North Korea's response to the move was softer than many
analysts were expecting, with officials saying in a statement they
remained willing "to sit down face-to-face with the U.S. and
resolve issues anytime and in any format."
Mr. Trump told reporters Friday that dialogue with North Korea
continued and hinted the summit could still happen.
More placid markets and a rise in the dollar and Treasury yields
sent gold to its lowest close of the year last week, as a stronger
dollar makes gold more expensive for overseas buyers and higher
yields make the metal less attractive to some investors.
On Friday, the WSJ Dollar Index, which tracks the U.S. currency
against a basket of 16 others, rose 0.3%, around a fresh
year-to-date high. A drop in Treasury yields was benefiting gold,
though, with the yield on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note
falling to 2.931% from 2.981%. Yields fall as bond prices rise.
Some analysts viewed Wednesday's minutes from the Federal
Reserve's latest meeting as more conservative and a sign that the
central bank will remain on its gradual path of rate increases even
if inflation reaches its target. That could boost gold, which is
used by some money managers to hedge against a rise in consumer
prices.
Among base metals, front-month copper for May delivery edged
down 0.6%, to $3.0670 a pound, tracking a decline in oil prices.
Some investors trade the two commodities in a single basket. Copper
is down 6.5% in 2018 after hitting a nearly four-year high late
last year, hurt by worries about oversupply and an economic
slowdown in China, the world's largest consumer.
Write to Amrith Ramkumar at amrith.ramkumar@wsj.com and David
Hodari at David.Hodari@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
May 25, 2018 14:56 ET (18:56 GMT)
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