Investing.com – Gold prices remained subdued as the dollar rose from lows, weakening demand for the precious metal but a slight uptick in geopolitical tensions stemmed losses.
Gold futures for April delivery on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange fell by $2.20, or 0.17%, to $1,322.00 a troy ounce.
Gold prices fell as the dollar bounced off sessions lows to turn positive amid mostly encouraging U.S. economic data which did little to derail the prospect of further U.S. rate hikes in the coming months.
The Federal Reserve's preferred inflation measure, the personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index excluding food and energy, rose 1.6% in the 12 months through February, in line with economists’ forecast.
“Policymakers can be confident about the inflation outlook and will likely keep with the plan to raise rates a couple more times this year,” said MUFG’s Chris Rupkey.
Gold is sensitive to moves higher in the U.S. dollar – a stronger dollar makes gold more expensive for holders of foreign currency, thus, reduces investor demand for the precious metal.
An uptick in geopolitical uncertainty stemmed losses in the precious as Russia threatened retaliation against U.S. and its allies for expelling more than 100 Russian over alleged poisoning of Russian former double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter in England.
In other precious metal trade, silver futures rose 0.23% to $16.29 a troy ounce, while platinum futures fell 0.69% to $934.20 an ounce.
Copper rose 0.90% to $3.029, while natural gas rose 1.823% to $2.70.