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(Wallace Refiners) – Rising wholesale inflation pressures is not having much impact on the gold market as prices trade near session lows.
Wednesday, the U.S. Labor Department said its Producer Price Index (PPI) rose 1.3% in January following December’s rise of 0.3%; the data was stronger than expected with economists’ forecasting an increase of 0.2%.
The report said that annual inflation rose 1.7%, “the largest increase since climbing 2.0 percent for the 12 months ended January 2020.”
The gold market is not seeing much reaction to the latest inflation data. April gold futures last traded at $1,775.20 an ounce, down well more than 1% on the day. According to some analysts, market are more focused on better than expected retail sales data, which is raising expectataions for stronger than expected economic growth.
Core PPI, which strips out volatile food and energy costs, rose 1.2% last month, following December’s increase of 0.1%. Economists were expecting to see a 0.2% rise.
The report said that annual core inflation rose 2.0% last month. “The largest increase since a 2.1-percent advance for the 12 months ended June 2019,” the report said.
Economists pay close attention to producer prices as it is a leading indicator for consumer prices. Traditionally, companies pass on higher costs to their customers.
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