By Brijesh Patel
(Reuters) -Gold prices retreated on Friday as investors took profits after a strong rally in the previous session, although bullion was still on track for its third straight weekly rise on increased bets around U.S. interest rate cuts.
Spot gold was down 0.5% at $2,401.99 per ounce as of 09:50 a.m. ET (1350 GMT). Gold was up nearly 0.5% for the week so far. U.S. gold futures slipped 0.6% to $2,407.
“We’re seeing some profit-taking pressure, a routine corrective pullback after the solid gains. Today’s producer price index report was hotter than expected and that added to some selling pressure,” said Jim Wyckoff, senior market analyst at Kitco Metals.
“However, judging from the reaction of the stock market and the bond market, today’s PPI number does not really mitigate the cooler inflation report we saw on Thursday. So the odds are high for a rate cut this year, possibly as early as September.”
U.S. producer prices increased moderately in June, further confirming that inflation had resumed its downward trend and strengthening the case for a September interest rate cut.
Gold prices rallied to their highest since May 22 on Thursday after an unexpected decline in U.S. consumer prices. The data strengthened the view that the disinflation trend has resumed and lifted hopes for rate cuts by the Federal Reserve.
Markets are now pricing in a 96% chance of a rate cut in September, according to the CME FedWatch Tool. Lower interest rates reduce the opportunity cost of holding the non-yielding bullion.
Elsewhere, spot silver fell 2.3% to $30.72 per ounce after scaling an over one-month high on Thursday.
Platinum dipped 1.3% to $991.40 and palladium slipped 2.3% to $972.13. Both metals were set to register weekly declines.
“We still consider the new technologies so far to be insufficient to offset the loss in autocatalyst demand, particularly for palladium, and therefore remain long-term bearish,” Citi said in a note.
(Reporting by Brijesh Patel in Bengaluru; Editing by Vijay Kishore)
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