MW: Copper resumes retreat tied to economic worries; gold dips
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Copper futures fell Friday, extending their weekly losses to nearly 7% as questions about the sustainability of an economic recovery continued to swirl.
The benchmark gold contract traded little changed as newly released inflation data sent mixed signals, with prices moving in a narrow range between gains and losses.
Consumer prices rose 1.9% on an inflation-adjusted basis over the past 12 months, the Labor Department reported. Including energy and food inputs, the consumer price index, which tracks inflation at the retail level, fell 0.7% for the same period. See full story.
Investors tend to buy gold as a hedge against inflation.
July copper lost 2.75 cents, or 1.4%, to $1.9995 a pound on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract is set to end the week down nearly 6.8%.
Copper inventories at London Metal Exchange warehouses stood at 370,650 tons as of Thursday, down 3,100 tons from a day ago.
Meanwhile, gold for June delivery fell 20 cents to $928.20 an ounce, having risen above the $929 mark after the CPI data.
"The core inflation number helped stabilize gold and help gold up to the $929 area," said George Gero, a precious-metals trader for RBC Capital Markets. "But I am not looking for anything usual today. We are waiting to get over $930."
The June gold contract is set to end the week up 1.6%.
In gold exchange-traded funds, holdings in the SPDR Gold Trust (GLD 91.68, +0.65, +0.71%) stood at 1,105.62 tons as of Thursday, unchanged from a day ago, according to latest data from the fund.
In currencies trading, the dollar index (DXY 82.44, +0.16, +0.19%) remained slightly higher, up 0.1% at 82.679. The greenback stood higher against the euro after data showed Germany's economy contracting the most since at least 1970. See Currencies.
A stronger dollar tends to put downward pressure on dollar-denominated commodities prices.
Rounding out the early action in metals, July silver fell 15 cents, or 1.1%, to $13.89 an ounce. June palladium lost slightly to $225.75 an ounce, as the July contract for platinum declined $5, or 0.5%, to $1,112.50 an ounce.
