Gold ended higher for the week on Friday despite a drop in prices thanks to the stronger US dollar.
A rise in inflation and producer prices in August got the tired old gold bulls chattering again, but the reality is every measure of inflation remains well short of the fed’s 2% target, even in these days of a more relaxed approach to cost pressure.
On Friday, Comex December gold fell $US16.40, or 0.8%, to settle at $US1,947.90 an ounce, following a rise of 0.5% Thursday.
Comex December silver meantime, lost 43 cents, or 1.6%, at $US26.857 an ounce.
For the week, gold rose 0.7% gain, while silver ended up 0.5%, according to FactSet data show.
Comex December copper edged up 1.4% to settle at $US3.0395 a pound, for a gain of around 0.7% for the week.
Meanwhile, iron ore prices rose Friday to end the week at $US128.37 for 62% Fe fines delivered to northern China, up around 2% on the day and down slightly from the $US128.80 close the week before.
And the great boom in US lumber (timber) prices continues. Marketwatch.com reported at the weekend that “Lumber futures have managed to do something no other major commodity has been able to do in the face of the pandemic’s hit to the economy — more than double in price since the start of the year to touch their highest level on record on Thursday.”
Futures prices for the front-month September lumber contract settled at $US939 per 1,000 board feet on Thursday, the highest on record, according to Marketwatch. Prices based on the front months are up by nearly 132% year to date.
Driving prices higher are a combination of continuing demand from people renovating at home during lockdowns and a shortage of supply going back to the first round of the pandemic in March-May when production and supplies were down around 15% and have yet to fully recover.
