Gold bounces as dollar uptick halts after U.S. inflation data

By Ashitha Shivaprasad

(Reuters) – Gold resumed its climb on Wednesday after a knee-jerk retreat tied to the release of U.S. inflation data, as the dollar slipped with investors latching on to a slight cooling of consumer prices.

Spot gold was up 0.8% at $1,852.65 per ounce by 02:05 p.m. EDT (1814 GMT). U.S. gold futures settled up 0.7% at$1,853.70.

U.S. consumer price growth slowed in April as gasoline prices eased off record highs, suggesting inflation has probably peaked, though it is likely to stay hot for a while and keep the Federal Reserve raising interest rates to cool demand.

Helping gold advance, the dollar index, which initially strengthened on the CPI data, edged down 0.1%.

“The market saw the print and went ‘SELL, SELL, SELL.’ But gold has since bounced back with the thinking that the data is higher than expected, but not horrifying,” said Tai Wong, an independent metals trader in New York.

“The Fed won’t get more hawkish with this report, but definitely won’t ease off either.”

U.S. central bank officials on Tuesday fortified their arguments for the swiftest series of rate hikes since at least the 1990s to combat inflation.

“Overall, gold hasn’t been a bad investment. It’s been holding a fairly tight range, I’d much rather own gold than Nasdaq, or Bitcoin,” said Phillip Streible, chief market strategist at Blue Line Futures in Chicago.

Although gold is considered a safe haven from inflation, rising U.S. interest rates increase the opportunity cost of holding bullion, while boosting the dollar, the currency in which gold is priced.

“We expect (gold) prices to revert to taking cue from real yields as the year unfolds, encountering downside pressure in H2 but remaining elevated relative to historical levels,” said Suki Cooper, an analyst at Standard Chartered.

Spot silver gained 1.6% to $21.58 per ounce, platinum climbed 3.7% to $999.33, while palladium eased 1% to $2,044.17.

(Reporting by Ashitha Shivaprasad and Arpan Varghese in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri and Kirsten Donovan)