Gold Futures End Slightly Higher After 4-day Losing Streak

Gold futures snapped a four-day losing streak and settled slightly up on Friday, as the dollar shed ground against most of its major counterparts, and Treasury yields dropped amid slightly easing worries about inflation.

The dollar index dropped to 103.95 around mid morning before regaining some lost ground. It was last seen hovering around 105.25, down nearly 0.2% from the previous close.

The rate hike repricing sent 10-year Treasury yields to two-week lows.

Gold futures for August settled at $1,830.30 an ounce, gaining $0.50.

Silver futures for July ended higher by $0.083 at $21.125 an ounce, while Copper futures for July settled at $3.7405 per pound, up $0.0015 from the previous close.

Data from the Commerce Department showed a significant rebound in new home sales in the month of May. The report showed new home sales surged 10.7% to an annual rate of 696,000 in May after plunging 12% to an upwardly revised rate of 629,000 in April.

The spike surprised economists had expected new home sales to dip 0.5 percent to an annual rate of 588,000 from the 591,000 originally reported for the previous month.

Meanwhile, a separate report from the University of Michigan showed consumer sentiment in the U.S. tumbled by slightly more than initially estimated in the month of June.

The report showed the consumer sentiment index for June was downwardly revised to 50.0 from the preliminary reading of 50.2.

The consumer sentiment index is down sharply from the final May reading of 58.4, plunging to its lowest level on record.

The steep drop by the headline index came as the current economic conditions index plunged to 53.8 in June from 53.3 in May, while the index of consumer expectations tumbled to 47.5 from 55.2.

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