Gold stabilizes at settlement after US inflation data

Gold bars

Gold prices erased their early gains today, Sept. 11, as US Treasury yields rose after inflation data prompted investors to dial back expectations of an oversized interest rate cut from the Federal Reserve next week.

Bullion for December delivery held ground at $2,542.40 per ounce, after the yellow metal rose to $2,558 apiece in early trading.

Silver futures for September delivery, likewise, jumped 1.84% to $29.14 per ounce, while platinum spot prices eased 0.13% to $942.09 an ounce.

The US dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, kept flat at 101.65 points at 09:41 pm Makkah time, after plummeting to 101.27 points earlier in the session.

The US consumer price index (CPI) increased 0.2% last month after rising by a similar margin in July, the Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics said. The rise in the CPI was in line with economists' projections.

The core CPI, which excludes the volatile food and energy components, soared 0.3% during the same month, beating expectations for a 0.2% rise.

The CME FedWatch Tool showed that 87% of markets expect the Fed to slash interest rates by 25 basis points (bps) at its September meeting, up from 66% before the US inflation data was released.