Metals: Gold Prices Recover From Thursday Lows

Gold prices inched higher on Friday, as a weaker dollar helped the precious metal recover some lost ground after the Federal Reserve raised interest rates.

Gold for August delivery rose 0.2% to $1,256.50 a troy ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, rallying on bargain hunting after hitting three-week lows on Thursday.

The WSJ Dollar Index, which measures the dollar against a basket of currencies, fell 0.3%, to 88.40. A weaker dollar is generally supportive of dollar-denominated metals.

The combination of a dollar downtick and buying of cheaper gold allowed prices to stage a small relief rally, analysts said.

Softer inflation data may also still lead the Fed to hold off on further normalization, said Joni Teves, strategist at UBS, in a Thursday note. "This would suggest to us that gold has some catching up to do ahead [and] current weakness presents a good opportunity to build positions at more attractive levels," Ms. Teves wrote.

Meanwhile, copper for July delivery settled down 0.1%, to $2.5640 a pound on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Thursday saw the release of U.S. industrial production data, which revealed zero growth in May. The cumulative effect of this metric and Wednesday's weaker-than-expected consumer-price index and retail sales data fueled fears that the U.S. economy may be slowing, according to Investec in a morning note.

"There is increased doubt that [President Donald] Trump will be able to carry out planned infrastructure stimulus," Investec said.

Write to Stephanie Yang at stephanie.yang@wsj.com and David Hodari at David.Hodari@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 16, 2017 17:14 ET (21:14 GMT)