Gold prices slid further on Tuesday, falling to their lowest levels in more than a month, as U.S. Treasury yields and the U.S. dollar climbed following the release of official data showing a surge of sales by American retailers in July.
Price action
-
Gold futures for December delivery
GC00,
-0.44% GCZ23,
-0.44%
were off by $10.90, or 0.6%, to $1,932 per ounce on Comex. -
Silver futures for September delivery
SI00,
-0.63% SIU23,
-0.63%
declined by 31 cents, or 1.4%, to $22.75 per ounce. -
Palladium futures for September delivery
PA00,
-2.35% PAU23,
-2.35%
fell by $35.70, or 2.8%, to $1,244 per ounce, while platinum futures for October delivery
PL00,
-1.46% PLV23,
-1.46%
declined by $14.20, or 1.6%, to $899 per ounce. -
Copper futures for September delivery
HG00,
-1.14% HGU23,
-1.14%
declined by 4 cents, or 1.2%, to $3.683 per pound.
Market drivers
“Gold has been steadily declining since the middle of July and that bearish trend looks like it isn’t quite over as king dollar returns,” said Edward Moya, senior market analyst at OANDA, in emailed commentary.
Prices of the yellow metal continued to slide on Tuesday, building on earlier losses, following the release of better than forecast retail-sales data showing U.S. retailers had a strong July, mostly due to the impact of Amazon Prime Day.
Sales at U.S. retailers rose 0.7% in July and posted the biggest increase in six months. They had been forecast to rise 0.4%.
See: Amazon Prime Day helps deliver biggest gain in U.S. retail sales in six months
Gold has suffered over the past month as the U.S. dollar has climbed while global bond yields have risen. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note
BX:TMUBMUSD10Y
rose to its highest intraday level since November on Tuesday, up 4 basis points to 4.229%. The ICE U.S. Dollar Index
DXY,
fell by 0.2% to 103.03.
A stronger dollar makes gold more expensive for buyers using other currencies since the yellow metal is typically priced in dollars. Rising bond yields make bonds a more compelling investment relative to precious metals by boosting returns for investors, while gold offers no yield.
Earlier, China’s central bank delivered surprise policy easing by cutting a set of policy interest rates after more weak economic data on retail sales and industrial production in the world’s second biggest economy in July.
This story originally appeared on Marketwatch
