Investing.com— Ahead of important inflation statistics anticipated this week, traders watched gold prices drop to nearly one-month lows on Monday. Meanwhile, copper prices suffered sharp declines due to mounting skepticism over a Chinese economic rebound.
Over the past two weeks, a new year’s gain in gold prices has slowed as markets reevaluate their expectations for U.S. monetary policy.
The (CPI) inflation data for Tuesday could provide more insight into when the nation’s interest rates may peak. Inflation is still forecast to be running at rather high levels even though it is anticipated to have decreased more in January than it did in December.
dropped 0.2% to $1,862.42 an ounce and 0.1% to $1,872.85 an ounce by 19:10 Eastern Time (00:10 GMT).
Demand is hampered by the strength in the, which benefits from higher rates but also makes the yellow metal more costly to buy.
As Gold approached its lowest point since the 1980s, increasing short-term Treasury rates put more pressure on gold prices.
Later in 2023, if the Fed decides to stop raising rates in response to intensifying economic pressure, this scenario may be advantageous for gold prices.
dropped 0.8% to $21.095 an ounce and 0.3% to $948.40 an ounce.
Among industrial metals, copper prices had a modest decline on Monday after dropping significantly for three consecutive weeks due to doubts about a Chinese economic rebound.
decreased 0.1% to $4.0107 per pound.
After statistics revealed that Chinese growth in January was less than anticipated, copper prices collapsed on Friday even though anti-COVID regulations had been loosened.
The unreliable statistics suggested that the largest copper importer in the world would take longer than anticipated to revive its economy, particularly in light of the rising number of COVID-19 cases there.