In New York, Comex gold prices fell on Friday, for their first monthly decline since March, with a fourth straight weekly fall driven by the surge rise in global bond yields last week (while the fall in the value of the US dollar over the week (but steady on Friday) had little impact.
August gold futures on Comex lost $US3.50, or 0.3%, to settle at $US1,242.30 an ounce. That was a loss of 1.1% for the week, 2.6% for the month and around 0.8% for the quarter. For the first six months of the year, however, it was 7.9%, according to FactSet figures.
Comex September silver futures fell 2.7 cents, or 0.2%, to $US16.627 an ounce, to be down 0.1% for the week, 4.4% for the month, nearly 10% for the quarter. For the year so far silver was up 4%.
“After a strong start in the first quarter, gold has stabilized into a broader trading range in the second quarter, making little to no additional progress,” Rob Haworth, senior investment strategist at U.S. Bancorp Wealth Management told Marketwatch.
“Support to start this year has rested in a weaker U.S. dollar and low real interest rates,” he said. But “looking to the back half of the year, these drivers seem unlikely to be repeated.”
“Real interest rates have risen over the past month, and [U.S. Federal Reserve] policy is to provide further support to real rates, creating additional pressure on gold,” Haworth added.
The dollar, as measured by the US Dollar Index rose 0.1% on Friday, but for the year to date it lost more than 6%. The Australian dollar was up 4% in June and just on 7% for the year so far.
Comex copper futures for September rose 1.6 cents or 0.6% on Friday to $US2.71 1 a pound – to be up 4.7% for June, 0.6% for the quarter and a solid 7% plus for the year so far.
Platinum gained 2.3% for the year so far, but palladium was up more than 22%.
Sugar was up more than 4% last week, but sold off before that to be down 26% for the year so far and 16% for the month.
But wheat prices have turned this year, up sharply in June (by 18.6%, more than 15% in the quarter and over 17% for the year so far as a shortage hard US Spring wheat drags other wheat futures prices higher, especially on the Chicago Board of Trade.
