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Gold bounced off a one-week low hit earlier on Thursday as a dip in U.S. Treasury yields bolstered the metal’s appeal as an inflation hedge.

·         Spot gold was up 0.5% to $1,824.89 per ounce, recovering from its lowest level since May 6 at $1,808.44.

·         U.S. gold futures settled 0.1% higher at $1,824.

·         “All the inflation numbers are positively affecting gold prices and the momentum is likely to continue going forward,” said Jeffrey Sica, founder of Circle Squared Alternative Investments.

·         Data showed fewer Americans filed new claims for unemployment benefits last week. Meanwhile, producer prices increased more than expected in April.

This followed Wednesday’s data showing U.S. consumer prices jumped the most in nearly 12 years last month, which intensified concerns over rising inflation and possible interest rate hikes.

However, the Federal Reserve has pledged to keep rates low until the economy reaches full employment and inflation hits 2% and is on track to “moderately” exceed that level for some time.

·         “Dips in gold remain a buying opportunity,” said David Meger, director of metals trading at High Ridge Futures.

“We’re in a fundamentally strong underlying condition of going through recovery in the economy along with a very low interest rate environment that creates inflationary pressures in the market.”

 

·         Gold is considered a hedge against potential inflation triggered by widespread stimulus, although elevated Treasury yields have dulled non-yielding bullion’s appeal this year.

 

·         Investors are now awaiting U.S. retail sales data on Friday.

 

·         Silver was flat at $27.03 per ounce

 

·         Silver is up over 70% in a year. Here’s why experts say it could have further to go

Demand for the precious metal has shot up in the past 12 months. Silver was trading around $27 an ounce on Wednesday, a 74% rise from a year ago when the spot price was around $15.5 per ounce. In comparison, gold prices have risen 6.4% in a year.

·         Platinum fell 0.8% to $1,200.31.

·         Palladium rose 0.1% to $2,859.13 per ounce, having hit a three-week low after the world’s largest producer of the metal, Russia’s Nornickel , said it had resumed full operations at one of its two mines hit by flooding this year.

 

·         U.S. 10-year Treasury yields eased after four straight days of gains.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note fell about 3 basis points to 1.67% at around 3:00 p.m. ET. The yield on the 30-year Treasury bond dipped 2 basis points to 2.4%. Yields move inversely to prices.

 

·         Dollar flat after more evidence of rising inflation

The dollar held steady near week highs on Thursday after the U.S. Labor Department reported higher producer prices in April, further evidence that inflation is rising in the United States.

The dollar index was last flat on Thursday at 90.739, down from a week high hit earlier in the day of 90.909.

The euro was slightly stronger on the day, last up 0.05% to $1.208. The Japanese yen was modestly stronger against the dollar, last up 0.11% at 109.575.

 

·         U.S. weekly jobless claims at 14-month low; inflation heating up

The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits dropped to a 14-month low last week as companies held onto their workers amid a growing labor shortage that helped to curb employment growth in April.

Initial claims for state unemployment benefits dropped 34,000 to a seasonally adjusted 473,000 for the week ended May 8, the Labor Department said. That was the lowest since mid-March 2020, when mandatory closures of nonessential businesses were enforced to slow the first wave of COVID-19 infections.

The worker shortage is despite nearly 10 million Americans being officially unemployed, a disconnect that economists expect will resolve in the coming months as increased vaccinations ease COVID-19 stress and enhanced unemployment benefits expire, allowing some workers to return to the labor market.

 

 ·         The producer price index rose 0.6% in April after surging 1.0% in March.

 

 

In the 12 months through April, the PPI shot up 6.2%. That was the biggest year-on-year rise since the series was revamped in 2010 and followed a 4.2% jump in March.

 

·         Dogecoin falls 15% to below 40 cents on Elon Musk’s crypto about-face

The price of dogecoin fell sharply Thursday morning, sliding below 40 cents per coin, after Tesla CEO and crypto booster Elon Musk announced that the automaker was suspending the use of bitcoin in payments over environmental concerns.

 

Bitcoin however recovered some of those losses overnight and was last up 1.96% at around $49,697 at 1132 GMT.

 

·         Biden says there will be more infrastructure talks next week after productive meeting with GOP senators

President Joe Biden said he had a “very, very good meeting” with a group of senior Republican senators Thursday about a bipartisan infrastructure deal, and that he plans to host them at the White House again next week for further talks.

The lead Republican senator working on a deal with Biden, Sen. Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, also said they made genuine progress.

 

·         MITCH MCCONNELL VOWS TO BLOCK BIDEN’S ENTIRE AGENDA JUST TO BE A DICK

 

·         U.S. firms still face more restrictions in China than Chinese firms face in U.S., says business group

Many U.S. companies in China are still finding it harder to operate in the country compared with their Chinese counterparts in the U.S., the American Chamber of Commerce in China said in a report released Tuesday.

 

·         CORONAVIRUS UPDATES:

·         Medical professionals have not been able to say when newinfections will plateau and other countries are alarmed over the transmissibility of the variant that is now spreading worldwide.

 

·         CDC says fully vaccinated people don’t need to wear face masks indoors or outdoors in most settings