Gold prices gain 1.5% as US dollar slumps

Gold prices maintained their uptrend at settlement today, April 13, after US economic data increased expectations of an imminent halt to interest rates hikes by the Federal Reserve.

The Fed March meeting minutes — issued on April 12 — showed that policymakers scaled back forecasts for a rate rise in 2023 after a series of bank collapses rattled global markets, anticipating the latest pressure on the banking sector to push the economy into recession.

Today's data indicated that the Producer Price Index fell by 0.50% in March on a monthly basis — the biggest decline in three years, coinciding with jobless claims rising by 11,000 applications to a total of 239,000 last week.

"That is an underlying positive environment for gold where the Fed is done with their interest rate hike cycle, yet inflation overall remains higher than they would like," said David Meger, director of metals trading at High Ridge Futures, Reuters reported.

In terms of trading, gold for June delivery nudged up by 1.50%, or $30.40, to $2,055.30 an ounce.

Meanwhile, the US dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, slipped 0.50% at 100.95 points at 08:40 pm Makkah time.