Gold plumbs years lows, dollar hits year peak

Gold futures fell nearly one percent in American trade to July 11, 2017 lows, as the dollar index rose to July 14 highs, following earlier data from the US, and after the conclusion of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's Congressional testimony yesterday. 

As of 02:12 GMT, gold futures due on August 15 fell 0.92% to $1,216.60 an ounce from the opening of $1,227.90, marking year lows, while the dollar index rose 0.42% to 95.49 from the opening of 95.08, touching one-year highs. 

Earlier US data showed unemployment claims fell 8 thousand to 207 thousand from 215K, beating expectations of 220K, while continuing claims for the week ending July 7 rose 8 thousand to 1.751 million from 1.743 million, missing estimates of 1.729 million. 

The Philly Fed Manufacturing Index rose to 25.7 in July from 19.9 in June, beating estimates of 21.6, while the CB leading index rose 0.5% in June, beating estimates of 0.4%, and compared to May's no-change. 

In his two-day testimony before the two chambers of Congress, Fed Chair Jerome Powell pointed to strong economic growth this year with continued improvement in the labor market and inflation rates, while cautioning from short-term consequences to trade protectionism. 

World Gold Council 

Recently, the World Gold Council reported a 7% drop in global demand in the first quarter of 2018 to 973.5 tonnes, the lowest since the first quarter of 2008, as investments fell 27% on the precious metal to 287 tonnes from 383 tonnes in the first quarter of 2017. 

Central banks' gold demand rose 42% to 116.5 tonnes, especially from Russia, while jewelry demand steadied at 487.7 tonnes, as mine supplies grew 1% y/y to 770 thousand tonnes. 

Gold holdings at SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed investment fund, steadied at 794.01 tonnes, on Wednesday the lowest since August 14, after gold prices marked a 5.4% loss in the second quarter of the year.