FX.co ★ Gold Settles Higher As Dollar Slips

Gold prices climbed higher on Monday as the dollar shed ground amid hopes the Federal Reserve will gradually slow down the pace of interest rate hikes in the coming months.

The dollar index dropped to 105.24 before recovering some lost ground. Still, at 105.44, the index is down more than 0.4% from the previous close.

Gold futures for December ended higher by $5.90 at $1,787.70 an ounce.

Silver futures for September ended up by $0.165 at $20.362 an ounce, while Copper futures for September settled at $3.5425 per pound, down $0.0310 from the previous close.

In economic news, the S&P Global US Manufacturing PMI was revised slightly lower to 52.2 in July of 2022 from a preliminary of 52.3, pointing to the lowest factory growth since July of 2020.

The Institute for Supply Management said the ISM Manufacturing PMI edged lower to 52.8 in July of 2022 from 53 in June, beating market forecasts for a reading of 52. The reading pointed to a 26th straight month of rising factory activity but the weakest rate since June of 2020.

The ISM Manufacturing Employment sub index in the United States increased to 49.90 points in July from 47.30 points in June, compared with expectations for a reading 47.4.

The ISM Manufacturing New Orders sub index in the United States decreased to 48 points in July from 49.20 points in June of 2022.

Data from the Commerce Department showed construction spending in the US fell by 1.1% from the previous month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1.76 trillion in June, compared to the revised 0.1% increase in May and market expectations of a 0.1% rise.