2022.04.1418:06:00UTC+00Gold Futures Snap 5-day Winning Streak As Dollar Climbs Higher

Gold futures settled lower on Thursday, snapping a five-day winning streak, as a firm dollar weighed on the commodity.

The dollar index, which climbed to 100.76, pared some gains subsequently and was hovering around 100.40 a little while ago, recording a gain of about 0.53%.

The dollar was weak during the Asian session as U.S. Treasury yields dropped amid signals that inflation may have peaked.

The European Central Bank today left its policy rates unchanged and reaffirmed that it is set to end asset purchases in the third quarter.

Federal Reserve board member Christopher Waller said on Wednesday that the central bank will continue with its plan for rate hikes to curb inflation even though the pace of price increases is likely to have peaked.

The economy is strong enough to support higher rates, enabling the Fed to move prices down without causing a recession, Waller added.

Gold futures for June ended down by $9.80 or about 0.5% at $1,974.90 an ounce.

Silver futures for May ended lower by $0.330 at $25.700 an ounce, while Copper futures for May settled at $4.7235 per pound, gaining $0.0115.

Data released by the Commerce Department this morning showed retail sales rose by 0.5% in March after climbing by an upwardly revised 0.8% in February. Economists had expected retail sales to increase by 0.6% compared to the 0.3% uptick originally reported for the previous month.

A separate report released by the Labor Department showed first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits increased by more than expected in the week ended April 9th, rising to 185,000, an increase of 18,000 from the previous week's revised level of 167,000.

Economists had expected initial jobless claims to edge up to 171,000 from the 166,000 originally reported for the previous week.

The Labor Department also released a report showing U.S. import prices surged by more than expected in the month of March, as prices for fuel imports continued to skyrocket.

Meanwhile, preliminary data released by the University of Michigan unexpectedly showed a substantial improvement in U.S. consumer sentiment in the month of April.

The report showed the consumer sentiment index spiked to 65.7 in April from 59.4 in March. The sharp increase surprised economists, who had expected the index to edge down to 59.0.

The consumer sentiment index rebounded from its lowest level since August 2011 amid an improvement in consumer expectations, with the expectations index surging to 64.1 in April from 54.3 in Mach.