Gold retreats at settlement from 5-week peak

Gold bars

Gold prices deepened their losses at settlement today, Dec. 12, as investors booked profits to benefit from the yellow metal's spike to a five-week peak in the previous session.

February gold futures plunged by 1.7%, or $47.3, to finish at $2,709.4 per ounce.

On the other hand, the US dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, added 0.15% to 106.89 points at 10:26 pm Makkah time.

The US Department of Labor data showed that the producer price index climbed at an annualized rate of 3% in November, from 2.6% in October, compared to 0.8% in November 2023, recording the highest increase since February of last year.

Elsewhere, the number of unemployment benefits applications rose by 17,000 to 242,000 during the week ended Dec. 7. This came against expectations for a decline to 220,000, following last week's data revised-upwards average of 1,000 applications.