By Myra P. Saefong, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Gold futures headed higher Wednesday, ready to post a fourth-straight session gain, finding support after news that U.S. retail sales fell and producer prices saw their biggest one-month drop in almost three years in May.
Gold for August GCQ2 +0.40% delivery rose $7.10, or 0.4%, to trade at $1,620.90 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Stock Exchange.
It was trading around $1,612 before the data were released. Gold closed at $1,613.80 on Tuesday, which was its third winning session in a row.
“Futures volume is unremarkable, and [exchange-traded funds] haven’t been adding,” said Adrian Ash, head of research at BullionVault. “So best guess is a physical buyer building their position.”
“Whoever it is, they’re spoilt for reasons — Greek elections on Sunday, record-high Spanish bond yields, [and a] weakening U.S. recovery,” he said.
Lower costs for food and energy pulled the U.S. producer price index down 1.0% in May, the Labor Department reported Wednesday. Read about PPI.
Also, the Commerce Department said retail sales declined by 0.2% last month on a seasonally-adjusted basis. That marked a second-straight monthly decline. Read about retail sales.
Against that backdrop, silver for July SIN2 -0.20% delivery traded a bit lower, down 10 cents, or 0.3%, at $28.85 an ounce after posting a 1.2% rise in the previous session.
Rounding out action among the major metals, July platinum PLN2 +0.49% traded at $1,459.60 an ounce, up $5.20, or 0.4%, while September palladium lost $2.90, or 0.5%, to $621.35 an ounce.
July copper HGN2 -0.02% fell less than 1 cent, or 0.2%, to $3.33 a pound.
Myra Saefong is a MarketWatch reporter based in San Francisco.
