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Gold prices pared early gains and settled lower on Wednesday after data showing a drop in retail sales and industrial production raised concerns about a recession.
The dollar index dropped to 101.53 this morning, and despite recovering to 102.36, is still down below the unchanged line.
Gold futures for February ended down $2.90 at $1,907.00 an ounce, coming off the day’s high of $1,929.80 an ounce.
Silver futures for March ended lower by $0.421 at $23.647 an ounce, while Copper futures for March settled at $4.2345 per pound, gaining $0.0115.
Data from the Commerce Department showed retail sales in the U.S. tumbled by 1.1% in December after slumping by a revised 1% in November. Economists had expected retail sales to decrease by 0.8%, compared to the 0.6% drop originally reported for the previous month.
A separate report released by the Federal Reserve showed industrial production in the U.S. decreased by much more than expected in the month of December. The Fed said industrial production slid by 0.7% in December after falling by a revised 0.6% in November. Economists had expected industrial production to edge down by 0.1% compared to the 0.2% dip originally reported for the previous month.
A report from the Labor Department said the producer price index for final demand declined by 0.5% in December after inching up by a revised 0.2% in November.
Economists had expected producer prices to edge down by 0.1% compared to the 0.3% increase originally reported for the previous month.
The report also showed the annual rate of producer price growth slowed to 6.2% in December from 7.3% in November. The year-over-year growth was expected to slow to 6.8%.
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