Gold ends lower as markets await US economic data release

Gold prices finished in the red today, Aug. 7, with markets anticipating the release of US consumer price index (CPI) data on Aug. 10, a day ahead of the issuance of Chinese inflation data.

Bullion for August delivery edged lower by 0.3%, or $6.1, to close at $1,933.5 an ounce.

Markets are awaiting the release of US inflation data on Aug. 10, seeking clues for the course of US monetary policy. Forecasts suggest that the July CPI reading will come in at 3.3%, up from 3% in June.

The US central bank is seen to start cutting interest rates next year, President of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, John Williams, told the New York Times earlier this month. However, Governor Michelle Bowman said, on Aug. 5, that the Fed will likely need to lift policy rates further to cool inflation.

In China, the market is looking for further signs of deflation with analysts polled by Reuters projecting annual consumer prices to plummet by around 0.5%, an outcome that might bode well for global prices.

Elsewhere, in July, average house prices in the UK plunged by 0.3% month-on-month (MoM), or 2.45% on a yearly basis, marking a fourth consecutive monthly slump, according to the latest Halifax House Price Index report.

Meanwhile, German industrial production tumbled by 1.5% MoM in June, surpassing estimates for a 0.4% pullback, pressured by the challenges faced by the construction and auto manufacturing sectors amid a downturn in Europe's largest economy, the country’s statistics office said earlier today.