2023.12.2619:03:00UTC+00Gold Futures Settle Slightly Higher As Dollar, Bond Yields Drop

Gold futures settled higher on Tuesday, supported by a weak dollar and a drop in treasury yields on bets the Federal Reserve will start cutting interest rates from the first quarter of 2024 after recent data showed a bigger than expected slowdown in consumer price growth.

The dollar index dropped to 101.50, down nearly 0.19% from Friday's close of 101.70.

Gold futures for February settled at $2,069.80 an ounce, gaining $0.70.

Silver futures for March ended down $0.169 at $24.396 an ounce, while Copper futures for March ended down $0.0030 at $3.9020 per pound, coming off the session's high of $3.9435 per pound.

Data from the Commerce Department last week showed the annual rate of consumer price growth decelerated to 2.6% in November from a downwardly revised 2.9% in October. Economists had expected the pace of price growth to slow to 2.8% from the 3% originally reported for the previous month.

The annual rate of growth by core consumer prices, which exclude food and energy prices, also slowed to 3.2% in November from a downwardly revised 3.4% in October. Economists had expected core consumer price growth to decelerate to 3.3% from the 3.5% originally reported for the previous month.

The readings on inflation, which are said to be preferred by the Federal Reserve, were included in the Commerce Department's report on personal income and spending.

CME Group's FedWatch Tool is indicating a 72.7% chance the Federal Reserve will cut rates by a quarter point in March.