2022.05.1118:04:00UTC+00Gold Futures Settle Higher As Inflation Data Triggers Safe-haven Buying

Gold prices climbed higher on Wednesday, rebounding on safe-haven buying after dropping to a 3-month low in the previous session, as data showed the annual rate of U.S. consumer price growth slowed by less than expected in the month of April.

A sluggish dollar and a drop in bond yields contributed as well to gold's uptick. The dollar index dropped to 103.37 from a high of 104.11, and was hovering around 103.85 a little while ago, down marginally from the previous close.

Gold futures for June ended higher by $12.70 or about 0.7% at $1,853.70 an ounce.

Silver futures for July ended up by $0.151 at $21.575 an ounce, while Copper futures for July settled at $4.2090 per pound, gaining $0.0545.

Data released by the Labor Department showed the annual rate of U.S. consumer price growth slowed by less than expected in the month of April.

The data said consumer prices in April were up by 8.3% compared to the same month a year ago. While the annual rate of growth slowed from a 40-year high of 8.5% in March, economists had expected the pace of growth to slow to 8.1%.

Energy prices skyrocketed by 30.3% year-over-year, while food prices spiked by 9.4%, reflecting the largest yearly increase since the period ending April 1981.

The annual rate of growth in core consumer prices, which exclude food and energy prices, also slowed to 6.2% in April from 6.5% in March, although the rate was expected to decelerate to 6%.

Elsewhere, China's consumer inflation edged up in April amid lockdowns, while factory inflation eased to the slowest in a year, data showed earlier in the day.

German consumer price inflation rose to 7.4% in April from 7.3% in March, final data from Destatis showed. The inflation rate hit an all-time high since German reunification and also came in line with the flash estimate published on April 28.