Gold Price Slips as Dollar Strengthens on Upwardly Revised GDP Data
Gold price skidded on Friday as the U.S. dollar appreciated following an upward revision to the most recent growth data in the world’s largest economy.
April Gold shed 1.5% to $1,220.10 an ounce at 12:13 p.m. on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
The U.S. dollar index, a measure of the greenback’s strength against a basket of six rivals, was up 0.7% to 98.11.
The U.S. currency stretched earlier gains after data showed U.S. economic growth slowed less sharply than forecast in the last quarter of 2015.
U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) increased at a 1.0% annual rate in the October-to-December quarter instead of the previously reported 0.7% pace, the U.S. Commerce Department said on Friday.
The data was regarded as emboldening those Federal Reserve policy makers who believe the central bank should be open to hiking interest rates in March. High interest rates are bad for the yellow metal which has zero yield.
SPDR Gold Trust (NYSEARCA:GLD), the world’s largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, was down 1.1% at $116.60.
Elsewhere on the Comex, the silver price retreated 2.9% to $14.73, platinum was down 1.5% at $913.50, while palladium was inching 0.3% higher at $484.60.
Bullion is still the best-performing investment in 2016 so far with a 14.8% rally, followed by silver, with a 6.7% gain, compared to a 13.8% drop in palladium, a 13.5% decline in West Texas Intermediate oil, and 7.3% slump in NASDAQ 100 futures.
