Gold Slumps Toward Worst Week Since June on Hot US Data, Rate Cut Bets Trimmed

Gold hovered just below $3,340 an ounce Friday, set for its sharpest weekly loss since late June, as hotter-than-expected US inflation data scaled back bets on aggressive Fed easing.

July producer prices surged at the fastest pace in three years, well above forecasts, signaling that tariff-driven import costs are being passed to consumers. The market now leans toward a 25-bp rate cut in September, followed by another in October, after Fed’s Mary Daly dismissed the need for a half-point move.

All eyes are on next week’s Jackson Hole symposium for fresh policy cues from Fed Chair Jerome Powell. Geopolitical risk lingers, but expectations for a breakthrough in Friday’s Trump-Putin talks on Ukraine remain low.