Gold prices climbed higher on Wednesday on safe-haven buying as global stocks fell sharply due to a crisis in the banking sector following the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank, as well as the debt woes at Swiss bank Credit Suisse.
The dollar's strong uptick limited the yellow metal's gains.
The dollar index, which climbed to 105.10 a little before noon, retreated slightly to around 104.90 subsequently, but still remained in positive territory with a gain of about 1.25%.
Gold futures for April ended higher by $20.40 at $1,931.30 an ounce.
Silver futures for May ended down $0.158 at $21.882 an ounce, while Copper futures for May settled at $3.8430 per pound, down $0.1600 from the previous close.
In U.S. economic news, data from the Commerce Department showed retail sales fell by 0.4% in February after spiking by an upwardly revised 3.2% in January. Economists had expected retail sales to decrease by 0.3% compared to the 3% surge originally reported for the previous month.
Producer prices in the U.S. unexpectedly edged slightly lower in the month of February, according to a report released by the Labor Department.
The Labor Department said its producer price index for final demand slipped by 0.1% in February after rising by a downwardly revised 0.3% in January. Economists had expected producer prices to increase by 0.3% compared to the 0.7% advance originally reported for the previous month.
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