(RTTNews) - The price of gold edged down Friday morning as the U.S dollar was leveling off from its recent slump versus a basket of currencies.
Gold for February delivery, the most actively traded contract, edged down $6.50 to $1,648.00 an ounce. Yesterday, gold snapped its two-session winning streak to edge lower following a bigger-than-expected decline in U.S. jobless claims and unchanged consumer prices in December.
Holdings of SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, were unchanged at 1,255.67 tons.
This morning, the U.S. dollar was leveling off from its 2-week low versus the euro and a weekly-low against sterling. The buck was moving higher versus the Swiss franc and the yen.
In economic news from the euro zone, German producer price inflation in 2011 quickened to 5.7 percent from the preceding year, the biggest annual rate since 1982, data from the Federal Statistical Office showed. The index of producer prices for industrial products rose 4 percent in December from the prior year, down from November's 5.2 percent. Also, the rate stayed well below the 4.6 percent forecast by economists.
Meanwhile, retail sales in U.K. recovered in December, as widely expected, after easing in November, data from the Office for National Statistics showed. Retail sales volume, including auto fuel, advanced 0.6 percent month-on-month, following a 0.5 percent drop in November.
Elsewhere, the prices of silver and platinum were moving lower in morning deals.
From the U.S., the National Association of Realtors will release its report on existing home sales for December at 10 a.m. ET. Economists estimate existing home sales of 4.65 million for the month after a 4 percent month-over-month increase in the previous month to 4.42 million units.
