2020.07.1018:44:00UTC+00Gold Futures Settle Lower For The Day, But Posts Weekly Gain Again

Gold prices edged lower on Friday as global stocks moved up after some positive economic data and encouraging news on coronavirus vaccine somewhat outweighed concerns about another daily surge in coronavirus cases in the U.S. and several other countries across the world.

The dollar's recovery from the day's lows contributed as well to the yellow metal's weak close. The dollar index, which eased to 96.44 in mid-morning trades, recovered to 96.68 later, limiting its loss to just around 0.02%.

Gold futures for August ended down $1.90 or about 0.1% at $1,801.90 an ounce, after having hit a high of $1,817.00 earlier in the session. Gold futures gained about 0.7% in the week, gaining for a fifth straight week.

Silver futures for September closed up $0.091 at $19.053 an ounce, while Copper futures for September settled at $2.8975 per pound, gaining $0.0590.

Silver futures and Copper futures gained about 4% and 5%, respectively in the week.

The U.S. again saw its sixth daily record for coronavirus cases in 10 days, with the surge driven largely by states in the South and the West that were among the first to ease restrictions established during the virus's initial wave in the spring. At least six states set single-day case records on Thursday.

Some states are rolling back their reopenings, while others are ordering people arriving from hotspots to quarantine.

The strength in stock markets was due to an update from Gilead Sciences (GILD) that its remdesivir drug showed a sharp mortality risk drop when used to treat patients suffering of coronavirus.

In U.S. economic news, producer prices unexpectedly decreased in the month of June, according to a report released by the Labor Department. The report said the producer price index for final demand fell by 0.2% in June following a 0.4% increase in May. Economists had expected prices to climb by another 0.4%.

Excluding food and energy prices, core producer prices inched up by 0.1% in June after rising by 0.3% in May. Core prices were also expected to increase by 0.4%.