2021.07.3018:57:00UTC+00Gold Futures Settle Lower As Dollar Rebounds

Gold futures settled lower on Friday, as prices came off a multi-week high, after the dollar strengthened, rebounding fairly strongly from recent losses.

The dollar, after hovering near a four-week low after Fed Chair Jerome Powell said earlier this week the U.S. job market still had some ground to cover before it would be time to pull back support and that the Fed was "ways away" from considering rate hikes, recovered gradually today.

The dollar index, which edged down to 91.78 in the Asian session, rose to 92.20, gaining more than 0.35%.

Gold futures for December ended down by $18.60 or about 1% at $1,817.20 an ounce, after settling at a six-week high on Thursday.

Gold futures gained about 0.9% in the week and climbed 2.6% in July.

Silver futures for September ended the session with a loss of $0.235 or 0.9% at $25.547 an ounce, while Copper futures for September settled at $4.4825 per pound, down $0.0410 or 0.9% from the previous close.

Silver futures shed about 2.5% in the month, while copper futures climbed 4.5% in the month.

In U.S. economic news, the Commerce Department released a report that showed an unexpected increase in personal income in the month of June. The report showed personal income inched up by 0.1% in June after tumbling by a revised 2.2% in May. Economists had expected personal income to dip by 0.3%.

Meanwhile, the data showed personal spending jumped by 1% in June after edging down by a revised 0.1% in May. Economists had expected personal spending to increase by 0.7% in the month.

Revised data released by the University of Michigan showed consumer sentiment in U.S. decreased by slightly less than initially estimated in the month of July. The report said the consumer sentiment index for July was upwardly revised to 81.2 from a preliminary reading of 80.8 but remains below the June reading of 85.5. Economists had expected the index to be unrevised.