By Sarah Turner, MarketWatch
SYDNEY (MarketWatch) — Gold futures retreated on Friday, with the precious metal and most of the wider metals complex under pressure amid a stronger dollar.
Gold for February delivery GCG3 -0.35% slipped $4.90 or 0.3% to $1,673.10 an ounce in electronic trading during Asia hours.
Futures for the precious metal had risen $22.50, or 1.4%, to settle at $1,678 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange on Thursday after strong Chinese trade data generated optimism about the global economy.
However, separate Chinese data out Friday showed inflation higher than expected in December due to rising food costs. Read: China consumer inflation quickens on food costs
“The unexpected uptick in headline [Chinese] inflation will no doubt cause concern for policy makers as they attempt to maintain economic momentum into the new year, raising fears of an earlier-than-anticipated inflationary spike that would force monetary policy into tightness,” said economists at IHS Global Insight.
After the data, the ICE dollar index DXY +0.07% , which measures the greenback against a basket of six rivals, rose to 79.814, up from 79.793 in late North American trading Thursday.
Still, despite the loss for futures, Japanese domestic gold retail prices rose to their highest levels in more than 32 years Friday, the Nikkei reported.
The dollar’s rise against the yen is pushing up domestic prices for gold, the report said. The dollar saw further gains against the yen on Friday after Japan reported its second largest monthly current-account deficit on record. Read: Japanese yen tumbles after current-account data
Around the wider metals complex, silver for March delivery SIH3 -0.43% slipped 9 cents to $30.82 an ounce, while copper for the same month HGH3 -0.58% lost 1 cent to trade at $3.70 per pound.
April platinum PLJ3 -2.34% rose $2.10 to $1,635.40 an ounce, and the March contract for sister metal palladium PAH3 -0.42% lost $2.80 to trade at $699.40 an ounce.
Sarah Turner is MarketWatch's bureau chief in Sydney. Follow her on Twitter @SarahTurnerMKTW.
