Gold price struggles as U.S. producers see costs rise sharply in 2024 – by Neils Christensen (Kitco News – January 14, 2025)

https://www.kitco.com/

(Kitco News) – Weaker producer inflation pressures are introducing fresh volatility to the gold market, as some economists suggest the data may not be sufficient to support expectations for additional monetary policy easing from the Federal Reserve.

The headline Producer Price Index (PPI) rose 0.2% in December, following November’s 0.4% increase, the U.S. Labor Department announced on Tuesday. The latest inflation data came in slightly weaker than expected, as economists had anticipated another 0.4% increase.

Over the last 12 months, headline wholesale inflation increased by 3.3%, according to the report. Annual inflation fell just below expectations, as economists had forecasted a 3.4% rise. However, the report highlighted a sharp increase compared to the 1.1% annual rise seen in 2023.

For the rest of this article: https://www.kitco.com/news/article/2025-01-14/gold-price-struggles-us-producers-see-costs-rise-sharply-2024