By Nick Godt, MarketWatch
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Gold futures traded higher Wednesday, playing off a weaker dollar and gains in crude oil that helped offset any fallout from a government report that U.S. consumer prices remained tame in March.
Watchdog Warns $85/Bbl Oil Puts Recovery At Risk
The International Energy Agency has joined a chorus of economists warning that persistently high crude prices threaten the global economic recovery, amid growing concerns that $3-a-gallon gasoline at the U.S. pumps this summer will hit consumer demand.
Gold for June delivery was up $6.10, or 0.5%, at $1,159.40 an ounce in electronic trade.
The dollar index (DXY 80.34, -0.17, -0.21%) , which measures the U.S. unit against a basket of six major currencies, stood at 80.34, off about 0.2%.
The U.S. currency gave ground as investors were eager to embrace risk again, helped by upbeat earnings reports from Intel Corp. (INTC 23.49, +0.72, +3.16%) and J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM 47.06, +1.19, +2.59%) that boosted sentiment on Wall Street.
Markets also got a lift as U.S. retail sales rose a better-than-expected 1.6% in March. Read more on retail sales.
Separately, U.S. consumer prices rose 0.1% on a seasonally adjusted basis in March due mainly to higher costs for fresh fruits and vegetables, Labor Department data showed. The overall gain matched expectations of economists surveyed by MarketWatch.
In energy, crude futures rose ahead of a key reading on U.S. supplies data, with the contract recently up 0.6% at $84.55 a barrel.
