2023.09.2919:06:00UTC+00Gold Futures Settle Moderately Lower, Shed Nearly 4% In Week

Gold futures settled lower on Friday with investors choosing the dollar as a safe-haven option amid optimism about the health of the U.S. economy.

The dollar came off 10-month highs, but still managed to find decent support from traders.

The dollar index, which dropped to 105.56 in the Asian session, recovered to 106.24, gaining marginally from its previous close.

Gold futures for December ended lower by $12.50 or about 0.7% at $1,866.10 an ounce. Gold futures shed nearly 4% in the week, and dropped around 3% in the third quarter.

Silver futures for December ended down $0.291 at $22.570 an ounce, while Copper futures for December settled at $3.7375 per pound, gaining $0.0295.

In economic news, a report released by the Commerce Department showed personal income in the U.S. increased in line with economist estimates in the month of August, climbing by 0.4% after rising by 0.2% in July.

The Commerce Department said personal spending also increased by 0.4% in August after jumping by an upwardly revised 0.9% in July. Economists had expected personal spending to rise by 0.4% compared to the 0.8% advance originally reported for the previous month.

The report also said the annual rate of consumer price growth accelerated to 3.5% in August from 3.4% in July. The modest acceleration matched economist estimates.

Meanwhile, the annual rate of growth by core consumer prices, which exclude food and energy prices, slowed to 3.9% in August from 4.3% in July. The slowdown also matched expectations.

A report from the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) said the Chicago Business Barometer (Chicago PMI) fell to 44.1 in September, from 48.7 in August, contracting for the 13th consecutive month.

The University of Michigan said in its report that the consumer sentiment in the U.S. was revised higher to 68.1 in September from a preliminary 67.7.