Gold prices climbed on Wednesday, lifting the most active gold futures contracts to their highest settlement since June 11, as the dollar eased a bit from 16-month highs and on lingering concerns about rising inflation.
The dollar index dropped to 95.73 before recovering to 95.82, down 0.1% from the previous close.
Gold futures for December ended up by $16.10 or about 0.9% at $1,870.20 an ounce, gaining after two straight days of losses.
Silver futures for December ended higher by $0.223 at $25.167 an ounce, while Copper futures for December settled at $4.2660 per pound, down $0.0855 from the previous close.
Data released by the Commerce Department showed an unexpected decrease in new residential construction in the month of October, although the report also showed a bigger than expected spike in building permits.
The report showed housing starts slid by 0.7% to an annual rate of 1.520 million in October after tumbling by 2.7% to a revised rate of 1.530 million in September.
Economists had expected housing starts to jump by 1.6% to an annual rate of 1.580 million from the 1.555 million originally reported for the previous month.
Meanwhile, the Commerce Department said building permits surged up by 4% to an annual rate of 1.650 million in October after plummeting by 7.8% to a revised rate of 1.586 million in September.
Eurozone inflation increased as estimated in October, final data from Eurostat showed earlier today.
Inflation rose to 4.1% in October from 3.4% in September. The rate came in line with the flash estimate published on October 29. A similar rate was last registered in July 2008.
Elsewhere, U.K. consumer inflation surged to 10-year highs, fueling bets of an interest rate hike as early as next month.
Official data showed that U.K. consumer price inflation advanced to 4.2% in October from 3.1% in September. The rate was forecast to climb to 3.9%.
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