Gold Futures Settle Sharply Higher As Dollar Loses Ground

Gold futures settled notably higher on Tuesday as the dollar extended its slide against most of its major counterparts.

Treasury yields dropped as well amid bets the U.S. Federal Reserve might cut rates later this year.

The dollar index dropped to 101.46 around mid morning, and was at 101.63 a little while ago, losing nearly 0.5%.

Gold futures for June ended higher by $37.80 or about 1.9% at $2,038.20 an ounce.

Silver futures for May ended up $1.080 at $25.101 an ounce, while Copper futures for May settled at $3.9710 per pound, down $0.0745 from the previous close.

Investors continued to asses Monday’s economic data, which showed U.S. manufacturing activity in March slumped to its lowest level in nearly three years due to rising borrowing costs.

Data from the Labor Department showed job openings in the U.S. decreased by more than expected in the month of February.

The report said job openings fell to 9.9 million in February from a revised 10.6 million in January. Economists had expected job openings to decline to 10.4 million from the 10.8 million originally reported for the previous month.

“February’s JOLTS report is an indication that the softening in the labor market may be gaining some momentum,” said Matthew Martin, U.S. Economist at Oxford Economics.

He added, “To be sure, job openings remain highly elevated, but February’s level is the first month below 10k since June 2021 and suggests businesses are becoming more wary about additional headcount.

A separate report released by the Commerce Department showed new orders for U.S. manufactured goods fell by more than expected in the month of February.

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